The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said in a statement on Wednesday that it is recruiting volunteers who will provide assistance to all those in need in the aftermath of a strong typhoon or storm surge, and help restore the city to normal.
According to the statement, those who are interested in joining the volunteer programme can file an application by visiting its dedicated website: http://www.vse.ias.gov.mo/index, or by visiting one of the social service centres run by the city’s various private social services organisations – which are listed in the statement. The volunteer programme is officially known as Community Contingency Volunteer Scheme.
The statement noted that after Super Typhoon Hato devastated Macau in 2017, the bureau launched a programme which arranged for the city’s various social service groups to provide assistance to the underprivileged in the aftermath of the deadly typhoon.
According to the Macau Post Daily, the statement said that based on the experience, the bureau launched the community contingency volunteer scheme on a trial basis before Super Typhoon Mangkhut affected Macau last year. Under the scheme, the bureau created a system for the matching of human resources and other resources via a network dividing Macau into six districts with the aim of enabling those in need to receive assistance as soon as possible and preventing the overlapping of resources.
According to the statement, the bureau officially got the volunteer scheme off the ground this year, which aims to enable the city’s various neighbourhoods to be restored as soon as possible after a strong typhoon or storm surge. The statement said that the bureau will provide those who have joined the scheme with lectures and training.
According to the statement, the volunteers in the scheme will carry out various tasks such as visiting the underprivileged in their homes or phoning them to ensure that they are safe; delivering drinking water, cooked meals and dried foods to those in need; providing emergency assistance to social service centres taking care of the underprivileged; repairing needy families’ damaged homes; and assisting in the clean-up of shops.
