Marco Jimenez in Mexico-City
“Anyone can die ...the only criteria is that you must be alive.” So says Raúl Serrato who has seen more than his fair share of people dying over the years . Raúl started out as a Red Cross volunteer back in 1950 at the age of 15. The father of his best friend, Ricardo, was a friend of the then president of the Red Cross and that was how he discovered the Movement.
Raúl used to go out with his friend to the courtyard at the Red Cross headquarters to see the ambulances, and they would watch how the volunteers dealt with emergencies. Raúl and Ricardo slowly became part of the volunteer body. Over the first few years, without any formal training, he learnt everything about the work of the rescue team , starting with washing ambulances after some assistance operation. “Little by little I learnt what it meant to serve others without expecting anything in return.”Time went by and Raúl became an ambulance driver, and learnt all about the work of the paramedics, though again without specific training courses . In October 1957, he and his friend Ricardo responded to a call to rescue a person who had crashed into en electricity pole. Ricardo got in to the crashed car to try to get the injured person out and was electrocuted. He died on the spot.
“A few days after, Ricardo’s parents came to see me and asked me to stop working as a volunteer. I told them that I had never been so sure that my place was in the Red Cross. Ricardo’s death made me see clearly what we had discovered together helping others”. “The years passed and I started to work as a mechanic in the national petroleum company. I continued as a volunteer for the National Society four days a week after work”.
“I wanted to have adventures. I wanted to see the world. So in 1961 I bought a Triumph Bonneville motorbike to tour the continent as far as Patagonia. I set off on my trip and visited each headquarters and delegation of the Red Cross that I found on my way. Through this experience I got to know different aspects of volunteering in different contexts. In the end, I only got as far as Panama because I missed my family too much and came back”.
The year after he returned to Mexico, he was knocked down by a car and had both legs broken. He was told he would probably never walk again. “Two traumatologists from the Red Cross operated on me. It took me 22 months to recover”. During the recovery time he continued with his work as a volunteer carrying out office- based and administrative tasks. “The experience of having received first aid myself made me understand the importance of training, and that was when I decided to take a volunteer training course which was not obligatory at the time”.
“I only had access to primary education. Nevertheless I decided to finish my high school diploma at 41, and since then I try to study something interesting every year or something that I like”.
His favourite author is Jules Verne. “If I could choose a character, I would like to be Captain Nemo and my ambulance would be Nautilus. I love to dream - life is a dream. I do not regret giving my life to the Red Cross, although I paid a high price for it - losing my family. They got tired of waiting. I went through a period of deep sadness , and alcoholism. I have no regrets because it was my own choice. I remarried and now I have a small business with my wife”.
Apart from training its volunteers, the National Society offers a long list of assistance, rapid response and first aid courses among others, which has given the Red Cross a strong presence in the community. “These courses have made people more aware of the importance of looking after themselves, and being able to respond in an emergency which affects them or people around them. Many children, teens and adults have been trained and this h elps to reduce vulnerability within communities“.
“Some time back, I did a few computer courses – I didn’t know anything about computers. Now I’m an expert. I still believe what I learnt in the Red Cross as a young volunteer - when you do something, you must try to be the best”.
Today Raúl is responsible for welcoming new volunteers to the National Society . He is a living example of a life dedicated to an ideal and a vocation – a person who has spent 51 years in an institution which celebrates its first centenary in 2010. “One hundred years in Mexico cannot be celebrated in just one day. The history of this institution deserves many celebrations in which the whole nation can feel involved”.