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The fear, anxiety, grief and worry during and after a stressful situation can be overwhelming to people and the community. But out of crisis comes an outpouring of response to provide support for mental and well-being of those who are vulnerable and people in the frontlines during and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are some of them.
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#InTouchStoriesofHopeBy: Ahlgilyn CabanadoIn Touch Mental Health Volunteer
It was in March 2020 when the Philippines was put under lockdown due to the global pandemic -- COVID-19. It went on for weeks, and then months, as the government tried to outsmart this virus. Last April, it was just a normal grocery day for my friend and I, but something happened unexpectedly, and I believe that God used us to be a channel of blessings.
My friend and I just finished our grocery shopping then, and were on our way home when we happened to pass by the construction areas along the road. We saw some men waving to our car and we thought they were trying to hitchhike and since we were just two girls in the car, we got scared. There were also a couple guys sitting on the side of the road with their placard asking for help or food. It dawned on us that they might be construction workers who were stranded because of the lockdown and might be neglected by their employers. My heart just went out for them. I could not keep the image off of my head, so I asked some barangay officials about those men, and the leaders confirmed that they were indeed construction workers who got stranded when the lockdown was implemented. According to them, there were at least 50 men in the area but that was just their estimated number, they were still not sure with the exact number. We were only able to see at least 15 to 20 men.
them if they knew the actual numbers of the workers stranded and they informed us that there were 80 to 100 of them. We asked the phone numbers of their representatives for proper communication. But wow, 100 people? Our goal was just to help 50 construction workers, but since it was a big number we would need more cash to make our assistance sufficient for at least 100 people. We were transparent about the whole thing in our posts and people just kept on chipping in their in-kind donations. There were also people we didn't personally know but helped nonetheless. We were able to reach our target P17,000 in just 2 days! Amazing! We bought, repacked, and delivered the goods in that week, too.
Looking back, it was a humbling experience for us. I was grateful to those who helped this mini-donation drive. It wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for their kind generosity. I believed God also used us to be a channel of blessings to people. Even if at the middle of a crisis, some people were still willing to lend a hand and just had the heart to help. We did not just give them relief goods, we were able to show them that there was still hope at the end of the day and there will always be something to look forward to tomorrow.
#InTouchStoriesofHope aims to bring you mental and emotional relief during the COVID-19 pandemic through the inspiring stories and perspectives of In Touch community of counselors, volunteers, partners, and clients.
Ahlgilyn Cabanado is a Registered Psychometrician and an In Touch Mental Health Volunteer. She's also a Freelance Writer for different blogsites and forums that talk about mental health, self-care, self-help, personal growth, and motivation. She believes that compassion, empathy, and kindness go a long way.
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Fostering collective well-being through social media#InTouchStoriesofHopeBy: Gazelle SerranoIn Touch Volunteer
lodged on my chest, rendering me speechless as tears rimmed my eyes. In the days that followed, various donation drives, art-for-a-cause projects, and calls for volunteers flooded my newsfeed. These initiatives, as well as the stories of people going the extra mile to support their communities, were a beacon of hope amidst the increasing number of coronavirus cases. The empty shelves in grocery stores, the haunted streets and the palpable fear permeating the mid-March air.
If you are a volunteer like me who lives in the suburbs outside of Metro Manila, amidst such largescale shutdown, you may have felt an even stronger desire to lend a hand in our capital’s fight against COVID-19. However, the tides have turned and the face-to-face community outreach and volunteer drives we were used to now run counter to the restrictions on mobility and physical distancing measures in place. This may have left you confused and lost on how you can extend help and support to those who may need it. That was exactly what I felt in the beginning, and exactly why the sudden abundance of inspiring stories and call to action on social media became a welcomed reprieve from the uncertainty. Scrolling through my newsfeed and deliberately following links on various initiatives, I suddenly found myself in awe of a virtual community bursting at the seams with different opportunities to help. In Touch itself has been an avenue for me to offer support, with our network of volunteers soldiering on in our mental health initiatives. Some other drives I came across were in the form of voluntary online artistic performances that gathered donations for different institutions. Humanitarian relief campaigns came in the form of websites that were built by amazing individuals who reached out to people on the ground most affected by the crisis, assessing their needs in order to come up with comprehensive Needs Maps that donors can utilize to track barangays and hospitals in critical need of food, protective equipment and other essential goods. And of course, with its special place in my heart, I was constantly on the lookout for initiatives on animal wellbeing programs for stray dogs and cats, and calls for shelter donations. This digital network of do-gooders came to me as a delightful discovery and I wish to share it with you if you have not discovered it already. Log on and see where the tips of your fingers and the small screen of your phone can take you. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised and inspired by the virtual community of helpers that awaits you.
#InTouchStoriesofHope aims to bring you mental and emotional relief during the COVID-19 pandemic through the inspiring stories and perspectives of In Touch community of counselors, volunteers, partners, and clients.
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