From all over Saudi Arabia, thousands of volunteers come to serve the pilgrims during the season of Hajj. They, men as well as women, younger or older persons, voluntarily devote their time and effort to provide many forms of assistance to those who need of the pilgrims to enable them to perform their worship easily and conveniently.
Their whereabouts vary depending on their mission in the holy sites. They all met with the same goal of "volunteering to serve the pilgrims in Mecca during the Hajj".
Saudi Arabia spares no effort in facilitating the pilgrimage to pilgrims, including voluntary work in the service of pilgrims. According to Vision 2030, volunteer work is not limited to drive vehicles in the vicinity of Kaaba or the holy places, but extends to various areas such as voluntary work in the field of health services, natural disasters, care for the elderly and people with special needs, translation, guidance and outreach and information activities.Programs of volunteering
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah organizes one of the most important Hajj volunteering programs, Be Helpful. Be Helpful program includes over 3000 female-volunteers and over 2000 male-volunteers with a total of 5313 volunteers from 18 different cities around Saudi Arabia, and different ages and specializations. Be Helpful program aims at organizing and legalizing social participation in the Umrah and Hajj season through an approved mechanism for coordination between the voluntary forces and the concerned authorities, improving the level and quality of service provided to the pilgrims, measuring the performance and effectiveness of volunteer efforts according to clear and specific criteria, developing and diversifying voluntary organizational methods provided by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in line with the most important technological developments and the use of modern technologies, and developing voluntary organizational methods provided by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in line with the most important technological developments and the use of modern technologies
The most inspirational stories are among the volunteers in the Hajj season. Volunteering is not limited to young people— Despite the heat and long distances to walk, and tiring rites of pilgrimage, Abu Shuja, retired at the age of 60 years, came only to volunteer in the program to serve the pilgrims.
Humanitarian Glimpses
This video went viral on social media, it films the Saudi volunteers hurrying up to save an Iraqi pilgrim's life. Those volunteers work in high temperatures for no consideration but serving the pilgrims.
