#COVID19 – Take the pledge

April 20, 2020

#COVID19 – Relaxing #LockDown measures, isn’t relaxing on #SafetyMeasures

May 12, 2020

#COVID19 – “Living In A Ghost Town”

April 25, 2020

World Health Communication Associates (WHCA) & INSPIRIT Creatives UG NGO,
MediaWise and MediaFocusUK

Strengthening connections
while keeping distance

News You Can Use

We are all vulnerable to this virus. This is a unique time for our communities all over the world as we work to combat this massive global threat. This blog aims to collect and share your stories and reflections that can help others to cope, thrive and build resilience…

Our communities are at different stages of response in different parts of the world. We can learn a lot from each other. Building on World Health Organization and other evidence-based guidance, this blog will gather and disseminate stories that inform, inspire and hopefully strengthen social connectiveness while we all practice physical distancing.

We invite you to contribute. At present we are looking for stories in the following areas:

May the force be with all of us.

Sabrina, Mike, Steve, Tuuli and Franklin for the Connecting Communities team

BLOG: https://www.inspiritcreatives.com/coronavirus-connecting-communities
Email: cccov19@gmail.com
See: https://www.whcaonline.org | https://www.inspiritcreatives.com/humanity
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12385075/ | Twitter: @connecting_comm
News: https://cccovid19.org/corona_virus/

Disclaimer – We try to include stories that respect World Health Organisation COVID19 guidance. Links take you to full published stories. Our Connecting Communities team screens and selects stories but can not guarantee accuracy of reporting and mentions of any products does not indicate endorsement.

While we grieve for the tremendous loss of lives in so many countries, we can see and feel that the need to connect communities and share learning grows everyday. Please attach your comments and stories to this blog or send them to cccov19@gmail.com or attach them to this blog. We welcome stories in all languages and from all countries. Here are some first examples of stories and links. Send us yours and make this blog useful.

“It’s all got to change. If we come out of this crisis with all the rickety, fly-blown, worm-eaten old structures still intact, the same vain and indolent public schoolboys in charge, the same hedge fund managers stuffing their overloaded pockets with greasy fingers, our descendants will not forgive us. Nor should they. We must burn out the old corruption and establish a better way of living together.”
Here’s an assessment of what’s at stake by Philip Pullman, author of the great His Dark Materials series.

Isolation tips – what are you doing to make this a healthier, less stressful and more positive time?

More jingle dress dancers join in to share healing and joy | APTN News

More dancers are joining in the porch-front jingle dress craze this week to share healing and joy. Skye, from the Navajo Nation in Arizona, wanted to be part of the movement during the pandemic. She says it’s important to share her heritage with everyone. Video: Angel Thompson/Facebook

Parenting tips for Isolation (UK)

Wondering about how to parent while your kids are home during the ongoing (COVID-19) pandemic?

Lindsay Powers has the only tip you need: “Throw out every single rule.”

https://people.com/parents/parenting-tips-coronavirus-lockdown-family/

Hygiene behavior helpers– what are you doing to keep you and your family safe from Corona infection?

Hygiene behavioural change (Europe)

If we rearrange society to prioritise cleanliness over convenience, we can stave off future existential threats like coronavirus.
Imraan Ladak, CEO of OOH Medical

“…We could have hand sanitising stations and vending machines distributing essential hygienic items on every street corner. Just as phone boxes and street lamps are omnipresent, so should hand sanitiser machines. High risk environments like public transport could have hand sanitiser stations at ticket barriers – having clean hands should be just as essential as buying a ticket. Hygiene should be a condition for entering a train station or office, just as it is required on entering a hospital.

Combined with increased use of disposable items over reusable (and less hygienic) alternatives, the “Hygiene Society” could be the fastest and safest way for us to return to everyday life…”

Community actions – what are you and your neighbours doing to help each other?

UA Plumbers Help Bring Water to the Navajo Nation

COVID-19 Elderly Emergency Supplies

Our goal is to halt the spread of COVID-19 on the Utah Navajo reservations by encouraging the senior community to stay home by minimizing the need to leave for groceries and supplies. By engaging volunteers to practice proper protocol and wearing the correct PPE during deliveries, we can further ensure the health and safety of the community.

DONATE HERE: https://www.unhsinc.org/donation/ Thank you so much for helping us join the neverending endeavor of providing better health. Your donations will have an immediate positive impact to everyone in the surrounding area of Southern Utah. Utah Navajo Health System, Inc. is dedicated to being transparent and accountable with all our financial donations and documentation. We area recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organization with the IRS, which means your donation to us qualifies as tax deductible.

https://www.wearenavajo.org/programs-services/COVID

Tackling COVID-19 (Coronavirus) with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (DRC – Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The project aims to ensure that doctors, nurses, staff, and patients — both those with COVID-19 and people seeking treatment for other maladies — have access to water, sanitation, and hygiene at health facilities. All too often, WASH services are lacking even in these places where people go to seek treatment. Available data for the DRC shows that at least half of health facilities lacked basic water or sanitation. During an infectious disease outbreak, ensuring these facilities have a reliable and safe water supply as well as soap allows medical professionals to provide care safely while also protecting their own well-being.

20th Apr 2020 – ReliefWeb

https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/tackling-covid-19-coronavirus-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-drc

Learning from Polio Eradication Initiatives (Communication Initiative, Canada)

“…Unless the polio program had a really solid communication and community engagement strategy as a central element of its work, it could not have effectively engaged families, accessed communities, overcome both valid and invalid perceptions and understandings, addressed relevant social norms, supported local leadership, and brokered important relationships. This strategy took time to develop. It was, in many ways, a rough journey—one that remains incomplete. The journey’s struggles, however, only deepen the relevance and the value of the learning accumulated to date…”

https://bit.ly/2S7PKrp

Les danseurs de l’Opéra de Paris offrent un ballet en visioconférence réalisé par Cédric Klapish
(Paris Opera dancers offer a videoconference ballet directed by Cédric Klapish)

60-MINUTE SPECIAL | Cirque du Soleil | April 10

#StayHome #WithMe #TogetherAtHome

Working remotely – how are you making new work realities productive?

Top tips (Global, UK)

*Emma Cantrill and her husband rented a shepherds hut to use as a home office, after finding it too distracting to work in the house (Credit: Emma Cantrill)*

“…Many have told us they are working longer hours, since being at home blurs the lines between the beginning and end of the workday. Without cues from colleagues heading out for lunch, or the side chats we often engage in at the office, it can also be hard to remember to take breaks.

Several people suggested putting structure and daily routines in place, including scheduling frequent breaks…”

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200417-top-working-from-home-tips-from-around-the-world

Virtual classrooms – how are you learning and training from home?

Course offerings and platforms ( Guardian, UK)

*Deep concentration of study is more rewarding than scrolling through social media. Photograph: Fizkes/Getty Images*

“…many of us in self-isolation, it can feel like the coronavirus has put the world on hold as we wait for release from our temporary imprisonment. But increasing numbers of people are using the time to build their skillset, with an upsurge in enrolments on online learning platforms such as edX, FutureLearn and Coursera, which offer “massive open online courses” – or Moocs…”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/19/online-learning-how-to-acquire-new-skills-during-lockdown?CMP=share_btn_link

Future learn course -options (UK)

https://bit.ly/2xYhWpQ

Public Policies – what policies are easing your burden?

Dikos Ntsaaígíí-19 (COVID-19)

https://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19

Peru Indigenous Warn of ‘Ethnocide by Inaction’ as Coronavirus Hits Amazon Tribes

FILE PHOTO – A member of an indigenous group from the Amazon region attend a meeting with Pope Francis at the Coliseo Regional Madre de Dios in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

By Maria Cervantes

LIMA (Reuters) – Indigenous tribes in Peru’s Amazon say the government has left them to fend for themselves against the coronavirus, risking “ethnocide by inaction,” according to a letter from natives to the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-04-24/peru-indigenous-warn-of-ethnocide-by-inaction-as-coronavirus-hits-amazon-tribes

Concern about UK policy leadership ( UK)

“…In a nutshell, even though some great work has happened, in the main we have done either too little or too late or both.

It would be useful to scrutinise what preparation was done between late December and March and why we have failed on so many levels.

Moreover, the lack of a genuine apology from your cabinet colleagues for the shambolic way in which PPE has been managed and care homes have been turned into slaughter houses, begs for some soul searching and brings into disrepute the culture within Government.

What message are we sending to our health and care workers and society at large?

I hope my words will be received in the right spirit.

I wish you a speedy recovery.

I wish you and Carrie all the best for the rest of the pregnancy and best wishes for the new arrival.

If the critical illness hasn’t transformed you enough, I am sure fatherhood will…”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/open-letter-boris-johnson-nhs-21901510

Maintaining essential services – what is being done to keep food, mail, delivery, water, gas, telephone, internet, sanitation function well in your community?

Postal service (UK)

“Coronavirus update: We’re keeping the UK connected. We are open for business. Despite best efforts some services may be disrupted.”

https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus

Health Care – how are you as health worker managing, what are you doing to protect yourself and others, what innovations seem promising?

https://bit.ly/2Kz6bZE

Working the front lines of COVID-19 for Native Americans

California doctors to help treat Navajo virus patients

“”A team of 14 nurses and seven doctors from the University of California San Francisco will work on the Navajo Nation for a month to help treat COVID-19 patients.

The team arrived in Albuquerque on Wednesday night. They are now assisting Indian Health Service staff at hospitals and care sites in Gallup, Shiprock and Chinle.

The Navajo Nation had more than 1,600 COVID-19 cases and 59 deaths as of Saturday.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1447763/california-doctors-to-help-treat-navajo-virus-patients.html

National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan