The Angel search and rescue team was officially registered in 2015, but its true birth date is 15 June 2012, when its first social media group was created. According to Sergei Kovgan, it all started with a heartfelt impulse. As a child, he dreamed of working in law enforcement, but it wasn’t meant to be. One weekend, while spending time with friends at a country house, he saw a woman on live television pleading for help because her father was lost. Realizing he was in nearly the exact same area where the man had gone missing, Sergei decided to help and invited a friend to join him.
«My friend and I arrived at the police station, and I was shocked that, apart from us, no one else had responded to that woman’s plea on a nationwide broadcast,» he said.
Back then, he thought it would be great to build a database of like-minded volunteers ready to help out in such situations. Initially, he planned to focus solely on wilderness searches. However, just a couple of days after the social media group was set up, a young woman went missing in Minsk, forcing them to take on urban searches as well. Gradually, a team took shape, search and rescue equipment was acquired, and a division of responsibilities by area was established.
Volunteering with the Angels is not a one-off act of help in one’s spare time, Sergei Kovgan admited with a smile. Here, everything is urgent, like living on a powder keg. A message comes in, and you have to respond immediately. The top priority is the search for young children. In such cases, Red Shield Operation is activated: all searchers, rescuers, and volunteers, upon seeing the information, switch their focus to supporting the unit conducting the operation.
Over the 14 years of the Angel search and rescue team’s existence, volunteering has become practically a full-time job for Sergei Kovgan, with no vacations and often around the clock. He simply cannot allow himself to ignore a call.
«An important goal for the Angel is not to lose the accumulated strength,» Sergei Kovgan said. «I want the team to grow and strengthen. To do this, we need to attract new volunteers, train them under the guidance of experienced ones, and maintain the momentum of helping people. I would also like to strengthen regional branches and upgrade equipment. We also need to scale up our educational work: hold meetings, seminars, and produce informational materials for children.»
Sergei Kovgan is the featured guest of our project Belarusians in Focus. We sat down with him to discuss volunteering in the Angel teams and learn what Red Shield Operation means.
