Ever since I was introduced to Y-PEER Bhutan, I got loads of chances to volunteer in different activities, which helped me develop my volunteer spirit. What motivated me more to be an active youth volunteer was when I got introduced to the various youth group coordinators through Young Bhutan Network (YBN)- they were always working for the benefit of the society and not thinking of individual gains for once. Every single one of them were contributing to the society in their own small way and I thought I also shouldn’t lag behind in making myself a useful citizen of the country. But after I graduated from college, I couldn’t really contribute. So I lost hope and thought I won’t be able to do much as I would most likely be indulged in my work in the hospital and wouldn’t be able to volunteer as much as I used to before. And then I got a chance to serve my king and the nation when Bhutan also started having positive cases of the worldwide pandemic COVID-19.
When we had the first positive case of COVID-19, everyone was scared but with the guidance of our king and government, things were going smoothly. The government started to take extra preventive measures by having an isolation ward for the positive cases, observation wards, and various quarantine facilities in different corners of the capital and the country. We, the health-care workers were trained how to don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE) and had many meetings to keep us updated on the situation we were in and what needs to be done. In one of the meetings that our department of Physiotherapy used to have every week, our HOD announced that volunteers were required in one of the holding facilities in the capital. Few minutes after the announcement my colleagues started to speak saying they were ready to volunteer. I thought I should also do my part here, so I volunteered as well and we started making groups of three so that we could make a roster and be ready as and when we were called.
I was in the second group so I had a little time to prepare myself for the two-week stay in the holding facility and also had to convince my family. I thought my family wouldn’t be happy with the decision that I had taken, but when I called my parents to inform them about my decision, they were more than happy. My mother said it’s good that I got the chance to serve the nation right in the first year of my service but at the same time she was worried.
I, along with two other male staff from the physiotherapy department and a nurse, reported in the designated holding facility at 10 am on the morning of 23rd march. Each one of us was given roles and responsibility. We had no worries of contracting the disease as we were given a full set of PPE. The Ministry of Health and the national referral hospital provided us with all the necessary equipment, WiFii and our daily needs. The four of us did our best during our two-week duty in the holding facility, which ended on 6th of April 2020 after which I joined my regular duty.
After completing my two weeks duty, apart from the sense of satisfaction that I got, I also had developed a sense of connection with the senior staffs I was working with and most of all my parents, family and my friends were proud of me because I could contribute in my very own small way right in the first few months of joining my service.
While I was at the holding facility, what my friends were sharing was that if only they had a medical background then they could have served the nation as well as I did, but what I want to say is that you don’t need a medical background to help the country in this pandemic situation. You can help in your very own way, for instance there are hotel owners giving away their hotel rooms as quarantine facilities, charging just for the fooding and then there are the farmers who are donating bags of rice so that it can help in the future if there is not enough for the country. We also have volunteers who are contributing with physical labour by stocking up the grocery products in various parts of the country and again on the other side various people are helping financially. So what I want to say is that we don’t have to have special skills in order to contribute and serve our nation, you can simply help in your own way. It will be a great help even if you are just staying home and taking necessary precautions.
Tshering Zangmo
Y-peer Bhutan and a Healthcare worker
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