From Kampala’s busy streets to the highlands of Lesotho, Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers are proving that first aid is more than a skill — it’s a lifeline.
In the bustle of Kampala’s streets, motorcycle taxis – known as boda-bodas – weave between cars, carrying millions of Ugandans every day. Accidents are frequent, and too often, precious minutes are lost before medical help arrives.
But something is changing. Riders like Luyambi John, a boda-boda driver from Rubaga division, now carry not only their passengers but also lifesaving knowledge.
“We don’t usually know how to help our friends who get involved in road traffic accidents,” John admits. “But the training showed us how to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and call the Red Cross ambulance. Now, I feel I can save a life.”
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This transformation is no accident. It is the result of Uganda Red Cross Society’s commitment to innovate and find new ways to share first aid skills and ensure that lifesaving skills are no longer the preserve of professionals.
Over the past three years, Uganda Red Cross has trained more than 18,000 boda-boda riders through the SAFE STEPS campaign, a unique program that merges road safety awareness with first aid training. In a country where motorcycles are both vital transport and a leading cause of road injuries, the approach is as practical as it is visionary.
But Uganda’s ambition does not stop at the roadside. In 2025, it launched the First Aid Blended Learning (FABL) platform, a cutting-edge app designed with Belgian Red Cross. This platform combines self-paced online study with practical sessions in 51 branches across the country, aiming to train 2,500 new first aiders by the end of 2025.
“At URCS, we firmly believe that first aid should be accessible to all,” insists Secretary General Robert Kwesiga. “It is a life-saving skill that strengthens emergency response and builds safer, more resilient communities.”
And in classrooms across Uganda, the seeds are being sown even earlier. More than 6,400 students have taken part in “Everyday First Aid” quizzes and trainings, turning curiosity into confidence, and ensuring the next generation of Ugandans grows up not only learning math and science, but also how to save a life.
But this is just one example of the many innovative ways African Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are helping people act with confidence in the face of crisis. On World First Aid Day (12 August), we highlight a few case studies, from Lesotho, to Chad to Cameroon.
Lesotho: Safety on the road, security at home
A thousand miles to the south, in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, a different journey unfolds. Here, the Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) has struck a powerful alliance with local taxi associations. Drivers, once seen only as transporters, are now becoming first responders on wheels, trained to stabilize passengers or pedestrians injured on the road.
At the same time, LRCS is reaching into households and villages. Domestic helpers, people with disabilities, and rural volunteers are receiving training designed to fit their realities — practical, relevant, and immediately usable. To reinforce these skills, simulations and awareness campaigns are organized, revealing gaps and building confidence.
In a country where winding roads and remote villages can delay ambulances, these efforts ensure that help is never far away. The lesson is clear: first aid thrives when it grows both in the taxis of the capital and in the kitchens of rural homes.
Chad: From learners to teachers
In Chad, the story is one of multiplication. With the support of trainers from the Belgian Red Cross, volunteers from different local committees completed an intensive training-of-trainers program.
The National President of the Chad Red Cross, speaking at the closing ceremony, reminded them: “These skills must not remain with you alone. They are to be passed on. Training must become a program shared by all committees.”
The new approach ensures consistency and professionalism: certificates will now be issued centrally by the Red Cross Secretariat General, guaranteeing that whether one is trained in N’Djamena or in the smallest village, the standards — and the confidence — remain the same.
Here, the focus is on creating a ripple effect: one trained volunteer becomes a trainer, and soon an entire community knows what to do when emergencies strike.
Cameroon: Planting the seeds early
Meanwhile, in Cameroon, the Red Cross has chosen to start young. For the past six years, during every school holiday, children and teenagers gather for hands-on first aid training.
This year alone, more than 150 young people took part. They practiced placing a classmate in the recovery position, learned how to stop a bleeding wound, and discovered that saving a life is not beyond their reach.
The goal is not only to teach techniques but to instill confidence and reflexes that may one day turn a child into a hero.
A continental thread
Though the contexts differ — Uganda’s bustling boda-boda drivers, Lesotho’s taxis and households, Chad’s multiplying trainers, Cameroon’s holiday classrooms — the thread is the same. First aid is becoming woven into the very fabric of African communities.
Across the continent, Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers are breaking barriers:
- Technology is making training more accessible.
- Partnerships are expanding reach into high-risk sectors.
- Children and youth are being empowered early.
- Volunteers are evolving into trainers, multiplying impact.
Together, these efforts are redefining what it means to be prepared.
Because every second counts
Emergencies strike without warning. A crash on a highway. A faint in a classroom. A fall in a kitchen. In those moments, the first person on the scene is rarely a doctor — it is a neighbor, a driver, a child.
Africa’s Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are ensuring that when that moment comes, the first hands to reach out will know what to do. And in doing so, they are not only saving lives — they are building a continent where resilience begins in every home, every street, every school.
