“After one crowded lunch service, Heriford said, she could no longer justify the risk to her staff or customers. The restaurant closed March 14, though she and a small number of staff haven’t stopped working. The Ladybird is offering free bagged lunches for anyone who needs them. Heriford buys the food from her usual distributor, prepares it and leaves it on carts in front of the restaurant.”
More than the Covid 19, we have earthquakes, and we are still recovering from a strong hurricane. Our community is a Cooperative house system. We have been learning from our complex personalities in a respectful manner. We have notice changes in ourselves. Persons that usually didn’t care about the others are more solidarity. Looking for medicines and food, listen and support with each other. Consciousness of consumerism and marketing medicine are themes we have been actively discussing. We are learning a lot from this pandemic.
Picture by Lídia Martínez
We have more consciousness of how we can change with our community. If we practice solidarity, the community will do it too. Being alert to others suffers is very important.
Communities are the first response to hunger, poverty. Being able to share our material resources is a priority. People change and learn if we begin with ourselves. Modeling is the best.
Story shared by Lydia Martínez Vázquez, Puerto Rico.
Girls Gang, a community action group for teenage girls in a disadvantaged community produced positive posters to be included in food packages being sent to families experiencing poverty and hardship during lockdown. The group wanted to do something to help the community but felt limited in ways they could enact their citizenship during lockdown. Messages in the posters included words of hope, tips for coping with lockdown and also telling residents that they were not alone.
Recipients of the care packages told the coordinators that the posters helped to lift spirits at times when anxieties were high. It also provided the girls with an opportunity to enact their civic citizenship under the civic restrictions imposed under lockdown.
Class based inequalities are being exacerbated during the lockdown but working class and poor communities are finding creative ways to support one another.
PAEHL (Southern Bavaria, Germany) is a small community (2000 inhabitants) in a picturesque location south of Munich and close to the Alps.
Although it is well known for a rich community life (traditional music bands, soccer, clubs maintaining local traditions), the corona-lock-down came as a surprise. However, in a very short time after, the community came together to support the vulnerable groups.
Picture sent by Wolfgang Stark
The young people of the village formed a voluntary corona task force within two days after lock-down. The local mayor immediately started phone-calls to 200 (!) local inhabitants aged over 70, asking if they needed support on food supply or health services. Seniors have also been asked if they would like to receive regular phone-calls if they lived alone.
The local voluntary corona task force provided food supply and shopping services from day three after lock-down. Municipal administration is coordinating orders. The small local public library offered book deliveries on demand. Local administration sent out direct mailers to all households with information emergency phone numbers, health services during shut-down, where to buy local food or where to order hot meals delivered to households.
Based on a rich community life people are amazingly fast and creative to form community support systems. Collaboration of all sectors of everyday life (young and old, local shops and market gardens, libraries, community administration…) is key.
This story was shared by Wolfgang Stark, from Germany.
