Skilled Volunteers Educating and Supporting the Most Vulnerable

The Challenge

Overview

The most vulnerable in society depend on receiving help when their social networks or the public sector can’t provide it. This is where the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) steps in and commits to assist — this is their mission! With their team of 130 employees, 2,600 volunteers, and numerous donors that support their operations, the SRC of Zurich has been able to deliver humanitarian services to Swiss citizens through youth education and new-citizen acclamation and cultural orientation.

The SRC of Zurich needed a way for its dynamic team of employees and volunteers to effectively communicate and collaborate. HCL Connections was introduced by Belsoft (an HCL Business Partner) and was deployed at SRC of Zurich to provide quick and easy access to project information for both internal and external team members.

In order for the dynamic teams at the SRC to keep in constant contact and successfully execute on humanitarian projects, they needed a collaboration solution that would be quick to set up and easy to use. They needed a solution that would allow their employees and volunteers — who can range in age and computer skill level from young “digital savvy nomads” to elderly volunteers with little computer experience — to easily collaborate. It also needed to be mobile-device-enabled, for access from various job sites.

The SRC provides a wide range of services that center around its commitment to supporting human dignity and upholding the following values:

• Humanity: Humans are fellow human beings, always and everywhere
• Impartiality: Help in need knows no differences
• Neutrality: Humanitarian initiatives needs everyone's trust
• Independence: Self-determination upholds our principles
• Voluntariness: Real help does not need self-interest
• Unity: Unique in every country and open to everyone
• Universality: The humanitarian duty is global

An example of their good work is with the Youth Red Cross, where young volunteers conduct play and read-aloud sessions, as well as handicraft afternoons for children of asylum seekers. They support and educate school children with little knowledge of German and/or with learning disabilities. They also visit elderly people in senior living facilities to talk, read to them, and otherwise brighten their day. Another example is when the SRC welcomes new citizens to Switzerland and helps them “get on their feet” in a new country — teaching them a new language and coaching them in cultural adaptation — positioning people for better job opportunities.