By Paolo Vergara
Social media and more access to information has made the youth more aware of social issues, creating a sense of urgency to respond within our capacities.
As the world deals with the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, many young people have taken the initiative to help from home by sourcing and sending aid to workers in the frontlines. Here are some youth-led initiatives from various disciplines and sectors.
Health care
What started out as a video tribute to health-care workers has quickly evolved into a centralized database and aid-sourcing site for hospitals.
Davao-based neurologist Alvin Layog and World Health Organization science communicator Jason Ligot, also a public health physician, rode the momentum of their humble tribute production to launch Protect the Frontline. In partnership with Shift Interactive, a communications agency led by Laica Turingan, the group solicits the whole gamut of personal protective equipment (PPEs), as well as meals and transportation services, for medical workers.
Protect the Frontline mainly operates through its web site, protectthefrontline.com, which features a simplified interface. Site visitors, for instance, are greeted with an item list of PPEs. When they click on a specific item, they are directed to a hospital in need of such gear. Another link leads to money-only donations.
Ligot said that stakeholder feedback has turned out positive, with their concept of “exchange platform” now operational. As of April 8, the site has managed to facilitate more than 100 batches of donations of about 5,000 assorted items to 70 hospitals.
“Further down the road,” he said, “we hope to sustain the campaign and provide a platform for individuals, groups, organizations and communities to continue giving. Our perspective should extend beyond the immediate needs of the next few weeks.”
Another group is Help for Health (facebook.com/help4healthph). Organized by barrio doctors, public health workers, and scholars returning from abroad, Help for Health directly delivers “hugot packs” to medical personnel facing seemingly endless shifts, where time for personal care is often neglected.
When the project started, hugot packs contained personal hygiene items, energy-boosting snacks, and personalized letters of support. These care packages have since evolved to include PPEs, most notably N95 masks, face shields, and goggles. The packs are being distributed within Metro Manila, but moves are already being made to reach provincial hospitals.
“Through our networks in the medical community,” shares project cofounder Yves Zuñiga, who also works at the Department of Health as a senior health program officer, “we were able to check with the frontliners what their needs are [and] where help is needed the most.”
Mental health
With Covid-19 cases increasing, Manila-based registered psychologist Camille Yusay received word that many health-care professionals from doctors to nurses were experiencing signs of anxiety and depression.
In response, Yusay, who works with USAID, connected with fellow professionals to launch Psych Response PH (psychresponseph.simplybook.me/v2), a free helpline that utilizes Psychological First Aid (PFA) to help medical workers through the initial stages of burnout.
She said that PFA is mainly about emphatic listening to assess another’s psychological needs. This means anyone who simply lends an ear to a frontliner in need of help already serves as volunteer in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The need for more intensive help, however, will definitely arise. Thus, Yusay has partnered with AJ Sunglao, another practicing psychologist, to create Project Tatag. The program is designed as a “second line of support” that links frontline workers with professional mental-health services.
Sunglao is also a member of youth-run nonprofit organizations Youth for Mental Health Coalition Inc., (facebook.com/YouthForMentalHealth) and Silakbo PH. These orgs were present in lobbying efforts culminating in the passage of the 2018 Philippine Mental Health Act.
Today, the two groups, under Sunglao’s guidance, with direct professional aid from Psych Response and the Philippine Psychiatric Association, have launched Project Hilom. The initiative is a version of Tatag that is geared toward helping laypeople stuck in quarantine.
Extended isolation and home quarantine, as The Economist reports, could contribute to the decline of mental health. Yusay said that like medical health, triage in mental health is important, and this is where empathetic listening factors heavily.
With the youth destigmatizing the discourse around mental health, Yusay remains hopeful that society as a whole will understand that mental wellness is part of overall health, especially during this time of global health crisis.
Development, creative professionals and media workers
The last weeks have seen the rise of many private and individual-led efforts to raise funds and collate aid. While laudable, concerns from donors about transparency and aid reaching stakeholders needs addressing.
Enter Help from Home PH (helpfromhome.ph), a web site listing legitimate aid drives into a one-stop platform. Launched by a team of young leaders, the site is an information hub whose two major stakeholders are hospital workers and economically vulnerable Filipino families.
According to the Help from Home PH communications team, “the info hub not only contains donation opportunities, but reflects gaps that aren’t being filled in a vulnerable sector—i.e., this area has overflowing rice [harvests] or needs more masks for residents.”
Organizations listed on the site are vetted based on background, fund-raising history, and proof-of-delivery. As of press time, Visayas and Mindanao efforts have been included.
Preventing our health-care system from collapsing is the primary objective of all efforts. While this can be achieved by staying at home to limit disease exposure, these groups show that even from home, a proactive, holistic, and systematic solution can be established and pursued, leading to tangible results.
Note: The author is a member of Silakbo PH
Image credits: A screengrab from protectthefrontline.com