Staff Blog: I feel touched when distributing masks to our partners
Staying at home during the Spring Festival
I had to stay at home with my two sons and go nowhere due to the severe coronavirus outbreak and the lack of access to masks. My wife works at the county health department and she has been working since the outbreak with her co-workers. She can't have a day off and it has been a tough time for her. Nevertheless, I can't go outside because I don't have a mask so she has to purchase family supplies. This Spring Festival has been a really tough one since we have to stay at home and we can't go outside like we used to. Also, we cannot visit our relatives or hang out with our friends.
Caring about the community
▲Due to the severe situation, we should wear masks while working in office.
My colleagues and I have been in touch with the project community so that we can get to know how the outbreak affects it. Moreover, colleagues responsible for sponsorship also ask about situations of the children in the community. Timely communication with the community shows us that parents have enhanced supervision on children. For example, they ask their children to wear a mask when being outside or not to go outside at all. Also, they tell their children to wash their hands more frequently. Meanwhile, we find that the community lacks prevention awareness of the coronavirus and the residents don't have protective items such as masks, soap or liquid soap. What's more, some residents have not attached much importance to this outbreak due to the lack of knowledge and they push their luck, which turns into one of the challenges threatening the safety of the community during the outbreak.
Taking part in the distribution of masks
▲I ( left) distributed masks to local partner.
World Vision gave a quick response to the demands of the community. The masks purchased by World Vision urgently were successfully delivered to the Honghe County on February 2. My colleagues and I took charge of distribution of the masks. That was my first time out since January 23. I felt touched when distributing masks to our partners. I felt quite delighted that we can still give timely responses to the demands of the community and our partners in this drastic time.
A little episode happened during this distribution. Some of the masks were delivered to another city nearby because they were refused by the local express company. Two colleagues of mine and I had to drive back and forth for more than five hours to take back the masks so as to save some time. Although we all wore masks, we still felt nervous. Therefore, we barely approached other people. After getting back the masks, we started a second distribution. My colleagues were joyful seeing our partners wearing masks delivered by us while working.
Since February 3, we have successively donated more than 7,500 masks to the local government and relevant departments as a way to support the control and prevention of the coronavirus outbreak. In addition to the donation of protective items, we plan to hold educational activities in the project community when coronavirus spread is taken under control. Those activities will teach people to wash their hands correctly and more regularly, which can raise the public health awareness of the residents.
I hope that the coronavirus outbreak will pass soon so that we can all go back to normal life and work. Stay strong Wuhan! Stay strong China! (Written by Che Zifa)
Special Feature: WORLD VISION CHINA REPONSE TO THE CORNAVIRUS OUTBREAK