Ramjohn-Richards:

FIRST LADY Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, described voluntary service as a “priceless gift” and encouraged junior members of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society to continue their voluntary work saying this would lead them away from “greed” and the “unbalanced desire to have things just because you want them.”

She made these comments while addressing the annual National Chain Gathering of the Red Cross Society, involving primary and secondary schools throughout the nation.

The first lady said with the increasing effect of globalisation and the information age, remote regions were equally affected by the price of oil and the invention of satellites.

Citing bird flu she also noted that society was not immune to these ill effects, saying it was important to see “ourselves as part of a universal family.”

“Giving voluntary service for the benefit of people everywhere, uniting as national bodies, helping others without discrimination of any sort, not taking sides and not taking instructions from governments, these are important facets of voluntary services,” she said. Ramjohn Richards added, “We must keep before us the priceless gift of voluntary service which helps to sustain societies all over the world and which is the hallmark of our organisation.”

The event saw a human chain being formed by Red Cross volunteers from the primary and secondary schools to mark Red Cross Day which is celebrated on May 9 annually.