COVID19: How can you help apart from just staying at home?
I am sure this thought would have crossed each one of you that how can you be of help apart from just the social distancing which you are already doing. Is there any way you can contribute to eliminating one of the gravest situations that the country has faced post-independence.
We need to know that the entire country is formed by individuals, which form families, which form communities and institutions, which then form the entire country. Here is a detailed list of things where you can contribute at this time of crisis:
1. Yourself
First and foremost, you need to help the fundamental building block of the entire nation. I am sure you have already read about this at a lot of places already. I would keep it succinct:
Physical/ Health
- Following good hygiene at home.
- Have Immunity boosting food so you don't fall ill.
- Exercise a little at home which in turn increases your immunity and also helps you uplift your mood.
- Follow these instructions when you are going out to get supplies: link
Mental/Spiritual
- Read positive books, paint, develop a new habit, learn something new or sharpen your existing skills.
- Even if you are watching a series, I would suggest something lighthearted, inspirational and funny, rather than serious/depressing, etc.
- Highly recommended meditation, to keep mental sanity.
2. Family
An important thing to remember is, If you are sound physically and mentally, then only you can help your family. So make sure you are following 1 before moving to this.
Physical/Health Wellbeing
- Make sure that supplies are taken care of, and the runs to get the supplies are restricted to a minimum.
- You should be able to restrict people from going out as even a single person’s stupidity can risk the health of your entire family. This might mean being a little strict or pushy with someone at times but then it's ok.
Mental Wellbeing
- You need to make sure of their well being from time to time. 21 days of home lockdown can be very difficult for some people. Use this time to connect with your family better rather than being immersed in social networking sites like Instagram, FB, etc. Let this time of crisis bring your family together.
- You can have a common ritual of enjoying something as a group like watching a funny movie or doing a group activity like board games, card games together. That usually is engaging and uplifts the mood of everyone.
3. Friends and relatives
I understand that in the pre-coronaVirus period each one of us was busy with our lives. Everyone was too busy, had too much work, hardly had time for anything or anyone, especially near and distant friends or relatives. Well, this is the time to fix that, to connect back. You don't even know how a word of love or care can change a person’s day.
- Emotional help — Everyone is going through a tough time. People would be isolated for quite some time because of the lockdown. Make sure you are calling them to check if they are ok. How are they doing? How are their families? What have they been up to? Trust me It matters. Don’t wait for others, you be the one initiating this.
- Information help — Passing on the right and relevant information required for them to fight this pandemic. This should be done only after carefully checking the source and not forwarding rumors. You need to be responsible for what you are sharing.
- Financial help — Ask if they might need some financial help. That is the best way to tangibly help anyone. Many people are directly impacted by this lockdown and many industries have also been hit. Some people might have lost their jobs, some might not be earning as much to sustain their families, So helping them financially or even just asking reassures them that you are there to help and relieves them off a lot of stress.
4. Community
Daily-Wage Earners and Unorganised service sector
People have been told to stay indoors in the lockdown, but for many daily-wage earners, this is not an option. Ramesh Kumar, who comes from Banda district in Uttar Pradesh state, said that he knew “there won’t be anybody to hire us, but we still took our chances and went to labor chowk to get work”.“I earn 600 rupees every day and I have five people to feed. We will run out of food in a few days. I know the risk of coronavirus, but I can’t see my children hungry,” he says.
There are many like him, who don't have money and food to survive this lockdown, forget corona. The situation for us might be bad but for these people it's harrowing. While the government is doing its part, you could also help. Here is how:
- People are not getting food due to lockdown. If you are in contact with someone who is looking for food and support, then send them to the nearest shelter of Delhi Government, food has been arranged there.
List:
Map:
2. Emotional Help — Check with your domestic help/ Guards/ and other people who you think might be going through a tough time. How are they and their families doing? In these tough times, it's very important for us to be compassionate and help each other and that’s how we will come out of this.
3. Financial Help —
a. Help them personally by giving them and their families some extra cash to deal with this situation. Paytm/G-pay etc. It shows you care and are there with them in the time of crisis.
b. You can also donate at the following places :
- WHO Response fund — Help WHO fight corona
- Give2Asia — Support frontline health workers and hospitals responding to the outbreak.
- FeedingIndia— Zomato’s initiative of feeding the daily wager. It provides food assistance for families affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.
- RapidResponse — Helping poor and daily wage laborers meet their daily needs.
- FB Fund — Fighting coronaVirus with CDC. Where FB will donate $2 for every $1 contributed
https://www.facebook.com/donate/209858783442596/10158678830429363/
- Delhi CM relief fund —
Elderly
Coronavirus has a high mortality rate for people above the age of 60. So it’s not safe for them to go out at this time, for essentials.
- Check with that elderly couple in your building, society, apartment, neighborhood if they are doing ok. It just relieves them of their stress and reassures them that there are people looking out for them.
- Help them to stack-up their supply of food, groceries, toiletries, etc
Others
Make sure that you are using your skill, profession or organization for bringing a smile on the faces of others, or making them aware of the situation, or financially contributing to the relief funds, or creating a platform where people can contribute, etc.
Great examples are Facebooks fund, Zomato’s relief fund, content creators, organizations making ebooks, premium content free :)
4. Institutions
In the last 30–40 days, economic activity across the globe has slowed down dramatically. Companies are conserving cash to pass this rough phase. Consumers are not spending to save for this economic slowdown and investors are fearful as they watch their portfolios tank. This isn’t just a global health and economic crisis. Each and every Institution is living its own mini-crises right now. They have their own revenue concerns, costs to worry about and maybe they won't be able to raise another round of funds in the next 6, 12 or 18 months. How do these institutions operate amidst all this chaos? You being an integral part of these Institutions need to understand these times and help wherever you can:
- These are the times to step up, show that you all are in this together. There might be changing directions, new things being presented. But this situation is a googly to everyone, so understand that and give your best amidst that ambiguity.
- Most of the institutions had to get entire org work from home policy instated in a hurry, so there might not be any order at this point in time. Now the situation is going to stay for some time. While there will be other struggles for your business like market/customer/funding etc, make sure you are doing your job well and also making sure that the teams you manage or others are also efficient. Be as efficient in working from home, or probably more, than how you were in office. Don't shy away from taking more responsibility at this time. If you see a problem in the company, policy, team, etc, try to propose innovative ideas and be part of the solution rather than pointing out the problem and being part of the problem.
5. Country
A country is formed by all these blocks mentioned above and thus by helping partly at each of these blocks, we would be contributing greatly to helping the nation, fight its toughest battle in the post-independence era and hopefully, we would come out of this soon. Amen!
