Citizens for Change #5
MAY - AUGUST 2020
“Let this thing ease up a bit and we’ll see each other” – this was one of the regular lines in the previous months, usually at the end of the phone conversation. “This thing”, i.e. Covid-19, has not eased up, but it rather brought us a strange summer. The state of emergency ended, some measures were cancelled, some citizens were relaxed and “the thing” took off; instead of a break between the f irst and second wave, it brought an “extended first wave” which, according to the figures, was even more intense that the time when we locked ourselves at home at 4 pm. The obsessive following of the press conferences of the Minister of Health also did not ease up; we rather replaced it with the question “How many of them today?”, thinking of the numbers of the newly infected with Covid-19. The recommended trinity: masques, hand disinfection and social distance have become a regular practice for part of the people, and the “protocols” of the institutions an obligatory reading.
Many of the institutions have slowly returned to their regularly planned activities. The mutual coordination has intensified, the experiences of the previous months when we “had set the foundations” of on-line work were used and the activities were adjusted for the so-called new normalcy. Conferences, debates, trainings, meetings were transferee to ZOOM, Teams and other similar platforms. Something still had to take place and it was possible to have things “live”, by respecting all measures of precaution and safety. Such were the CSO activities which responded to the challenge called Covid-19 by distributing food and hygiene products intended first of all for support to the socially vulnerable categories of citizens. They are the real heroes of this time.
Civica Mobilitas grantees were no exception to these trends. The ad hoc grants, intended for overcoming the extraordinary situation caused by Covid-19 enabled rapid response of the CSOs for their target groups. One Can, Romalitico, HOPS and One worked on mapping the needs, coordination and distribution of humanitarian aid to single parent families, Roma families, people who use drugs, sex workers, children who use drugs and their families, etc. The pandemics has intensified the need for implemented activities for access of the young and other citizens to this kind of support via digital tools. The crisis centre Nadez has worked with the women victims of domestic violence, which has intensified during the state of emergency, and Sumnal has worked with the students of fifth grade, helping them overcome the problems with distance learning. The activities of other grantees were also conducted by adjusting to the new conditions.
The results of the activities of Civica Mobilitas grantees and the CSOs in general are not measured only by tons of food, hygiene products or hours spent learning and discussing with, or encouraging the beneficiaries. They are measured by the satisfaction of the parents who have food for their children, the burden off their backs, the feeling that there was somebody who thought of them and helped them in these difficult times, by the gratitude of those who managed to escape the violence perpetrators and find some safe shelter, the new perspectives that have been open to the people and the self-confidence that they have obtained. Maybe we do not speak of this often, but we are proud that we have been part of the solutions to their problems regardless whether they have been related to Covid-19 or caused by something else.
In the fifth issue of Citizens for Change, you can find interesting contents on the campaign “Do Not Bet with Your Life” of the Association of Social Workers, the successful model of fundraising for houses for the poor by “Project Happiness” CSO, “Megjashi” research on the views of the parents on the organization of the classes in the new school year, the fight for clean air of the citizens of Gostivar and many other stories.
Have a pleasant reading!
