People have a great capacity for resilience. We overcome adversity and grow in the face of challenge. A good example of this is the numerous solidarity initiatives that have emerged in response to the coronavirus crisis in Barcelona and many other cities.
The global crisis caused by the Covid-19 disease has put us in front of the mirror as a society, making us reflect on our way of life. In order to stop the virus, our routines have been forced to stop, but there are many people who these days have decided to redirect their activity and who are devoting their time to solidarity actions to respond to some of the challenges posed by this new disease. Let’s get to know some of these projects better.
This project was created by Cristina Marín Campos, a doctor at the Hospital La Princesa in Madrid. Under the title “Letters with a Soul”, they collect writings that are then sent to people admitted with coronavirus. Many of the patients recognize that the worst thing about this illness is the loneliness and these letters give us the possibility to accompany them, encourage them and avoid them for a few moments of their situation.
Tens of thousands of people have already contributed by sending their writings. If you also want to do so, you can send your letter to cartas.venceremos.covid19@gmail.com. For the moment, two hospitals in Barcelona have also set up their own addresses: the Hospital Clínic (noesteusols@clinic.cat) and the Hospital del Mar (cartesquecuren@hospitaldelmar.cat).
The Friends of the Elderly Foundation, in Barcelona, has created the campaign #TrucadesContraSilenci to minimize the isolation of the elderly during confinement by Coronavirus. In addition to activating a register, they also provide a guide for accompanying calls to grandparents. If you want to collaborate, you will find all the information here.
Some health professionals, such as doctors, nurses or physiotherapists are offering their professional advice on social networking. These are active and retired health personnel who offer to resolve minor queries completely free of charge via digital platforms, thus avoiding overcrowding of telephone lines and care centres. If you are a professional in the sector and want to sign up, contact the Barcelona Medical Association.
A totally altruistic project, which has been born in Madrid, promoted by Hugo Rodríguez de Prada and Jorge Blas, CEOs of Grosso Napoletano, together with the company’s team. Its objective is to facilitate the feeding of the hospital staff, especially, the emergency personnel, ICU and internists.
Since then, dozens of restaurants have joined the initiative, which has also reached Barcelona with the help of the health food company, Flax and Kale. If you have a restaurant and want to join this initiative, you can contact them through the mail food4heroes_bcn@flaxandkale.com and you will also find them in Instagram (food4heroes_bcn). An original and delicious way to thank so many health professionals who are fighting on the front line against the virus in this crisis.
This initiative is already being carried out in various autonomous communities. It consists of a network of more than 14,000 collaborators throughout Spain who put their 3D machinery at the service of health care.
Among the thousands of volunteers there are doctors, engineers, designers, teachers, or nurses, but also institutions such as schools, which work to produce protective equipment and material for healthcare personnel and other work and social sectors that are also exposed to the virus. This project is coordinated through the Coronavirus Makers Telegram channels.
For weeks now, the young fashion designer Ugo Boulard and his team have been working with the company From:Bea to produce solidarity masks. Together, they have organized an altruistic network of people who, from their homes, sew cotton and mostly surgical masks to later deliver them to Cap del carrer Sardenya, geriatric centers and other social entities in Barcelona.
If you have knowledge of sewing and want to collaborate, contact the promoter of this, Ugo Boulard, through his mail ugo.boulard1234@gmail.com. He will take care of taking the fabric and material needed to your home, so you can sew the masks.
It is a virtual initiative that has a clear objective: to connect all the network that makes up the volunteerism in our country. Through an App that you can download here, different projects are centralized and thus, the search is facilitated for all the people who want to volunteer, for those who demand volunteers and for the NGOs. A simpler, more agile, and direct way of relating all the people involved in the social task.
At Withfor we are convinced that solidarity is a very powerful instrument capable of changing things. Altruistic projects are part of our DNA, so we always collaborate with solidarity initiatives, and we continue to do so in these difficult weeks. The crisis of the coronavirus is being great, as great are the solidarity initiatives that it is awakening. All of them make up an extraordinary social and human heritage, which will remain once we have overcome this pandemic.
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