Caregivers share experience of first COVID wave

‘Pandemic brought out the best and the worst in us’

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 11

Three words— ambiguity, fear and ignorance would quite describe the atmosphere that prevailed in the first half of 2020. It was a time when Nagaland, along with the rest of India was in lockdown, as a contagious virus, of which little was known, swept the world. 

People were stranded everywhere unable to reach home but they had to. And that was how the homecoming of ‘returnees’ began, a mass transportation of domiciles orchestrated by a state government at  its wit’s end. 

The government’s resources and workforce was stretched to the limit and the people had to pitch in, volunteering to provide food, shelter and care, for the most part, behind the scenes. They were from different walks of life driven by a common desire to help. 

A year later, some of the caregivers came together to share their experiences of the COVID-19 first wave. The get-together was organised by the Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS), Dimapur “for an afternoon session of listening, learning and reflection.” 

It forms part of a research collaboration between the OTS and University of Melbourne, Australia and supported by The Morung Express to explore the impact of COVID-19 in Nagaland. 

“No one had any idea what to do. At the time, we were so afraid that everybody wanted to be on the safe side,” recalled Ahidur Rahman, Working President, Muslim Council Dimapur, an organization that was among the first to reach out to people stranded in Dimapur as a result of the lockdown. It evolved into a community initiative that eventually tied up with the government authorities in the district. 

He said that one trying time, in particular, was of the suspicion and fear towards “anyone with a beard” following the Tabliqhi Jamaat incident in Delhi. According to Rahman, to rein in any further misgivings, the MCD worked out a policy disallowing entry of any member of the community from entering Dimapur for three months. Meanwhile, it was instrumental in tracking down members in Dimapur, who were believed to have attended or been near the Tabliqhi Jamaat. None turned out to be positive. 

As the state prepared to receive the first batch of returnees, it opened up mosque dorms to serve as quarantine centres.  Despite the challenges, fear and uncertainty, he said, “We came to know that time how much we love one another as human beings.”

Churches here reached out to assist the government as well as the returnees, banding together to find ways and means to set up shelter and provide food to the stranded in Dimapur. It was followed by managing designated quarantine centres (QC) out of funds crowd-sourced and donations. 

Yanbemo Lotha, Senior Associate Pastor of the Lotha Baptist Church, Dimapur recalled how initially like-minded pastors from different churches “took it up as a mission” to locate and help people. He further recalled how ill-prepared the government was and the challenge of preparing quarantine centres at the eleventh hour in buildings that hardly had the bare necessities. 

There were also incidents, he said, when they were confronted by police patrols for moving about during lockdown. Nevertheless, he said, “Thanks to the pandemic, many became frontline workers not for namesake but for real. And it was a good thing.”

The Western Sumi Baptist Churches Association (WSBAK) and the Dimapur Baptist Church Association were instrumental in managing two quarantine centres without any incident. 

Amughati Y Awomi, Coordinator, Skill Development, WSBAK, who was closely involved in running a quarantine centre, highlighted the measures taken to provide a comfortable stay. “It was not luxurious but the basics were provided,” he said, while stating that there was no untoward incident unlike other QCs managed by the government. 

He was critical of the helpline numbers provided by the government. “But when we tried to reach them, it was unreachable,” he said, while recalling that they had to do everything by themselves. The pandemic, he said, brought out the best and the worst of “our society.”

Imnatoshi Longkumer, Pastor, Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo (DABA) said that the Dimapur Area Ao Civil Society and Churches decided to do something given the situation the government was in. “We decided to accept the returnees as guests and not as inmates.” 

While stating that the over Rs 37 lakh, besides donations in kind, was collected to manage the QC, he said that the amount that remained was used to build restrooms at the District Hospital. In addition, Rs 40 thousand was received as donations from the “guests.”

One unfortunate thing, he said was the treating of caregivers as pariahs by the local community. Similarly, Awomi had earlier said that village and colony councils as well as families did not want “returnees” back even after quarantine. 

Azung James, Director of Sisterhood Network, spoke of the work undertaken, especially in the villages, targeting women and children and responding to incidents of domestic violence. According to her, the work ranged from engaging women in the villages in productive activities, among which included a tree plantation drive and opening a resource centre at a village, through which books were handed away. 

“If a small organization could reach out, I believe as a community we can do so much,” she said.

Vivekananda Welfare Foundation (VWF), Dimapur and Rotaract Club were the other organisations that were in the thick of things during the lockdown in 2020. 

Rimi Deb, VWF Project Coordinator commented, “We actually did what all of us did.” The VWF was instrumental in running a community kitchen that served three meals a day to the homeless and daily wage earners, besides providing counselling services. She admitted that it was not without stress, yet, at the same time, a learning experience. 

Rakesh Kochar, Advisor, Rotaract Club, recalled the experience of working in Nagaland’s first containment zone—Marwari Patti, distributing food to the residents in lockdown. As a Red Cross volunteer, he said that his job involved receiving returnees at entry points and ushering them to QCs and making arrangements to get them home after quarantine. He is also known as ‘Mini blood bank’ for helping find blood donors and one that came in handy during the lockdown