We are a diverse group of anonymous volunteers trying to do our part to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Just normal people like yourself. If this inspires you, join our slack group and start helping out!
These are some of the bio’s of our volunteers who signed up:
I'm a 16 year old student and I very much admire your initiative! I miss doing volunteer work and i would love to help in any way I can amidst this COVID- 19 situation. I understand what I'm signing up for and i can ensure you if given the responsibility, I would be giving it my best! Again I very appreciate all your efforts and I'm willing to give it my all.
I am a recent graduate from IIM Udaipur. I want to do my part in spreading awareness about COVID-19. I along with my batchmates working on curating regional content to spread awareness. I am more than happy to help out with this initiative.
I an hospitality professional based out of Hyderabad currently staying in Dharam Karam road ameerpet Age 25, would love volunteer to help in any way I can during this situation of crisis
I've been looking for ways to contribute. Excited about having found your platform. I've been trying to get my friends to roll out an app for crowdsourced contact tracing --> https://github.com/KiotaLabs/antiviral
I am computer professional presently located in roorkee.will love to contribute my bit in this situation.
I'm someone who started small, as a Junior Support Engineer at Tech Mahindra. 1+ years into a Technical role, I was picked up to be trained for customer facing roles in an elite batch of 20. Achievers in Making popularly known as AIM is a program developed to select members from Technical background and train them into customer facing roles. After taking up various roles in Sales and Sales Support, I moved onto #Kash which is a Micro FinTech Startup. Currently heading Operations and Information Technology here.
Middle aged. Working for Government of India
I am Diptarka from India. I am a Software Engineer, but I quit my job in early 2019 and travelled in Latin America for a year. There I took up many volunteering activities along side my travels. I am back in Kolkata, my hometown on January planning for a change in career. I am not working, so most of the time I am free at home (no work from home obligations). I am spreading awareness in my family groups on WhatsApp regarding fake messages in this tough times. I hope I can help the other people in the community as well. I can help set an crowdsourced info regarding food inventory across the city as well.
I am currently in high school. One of my passion is to read. Consequently, it has become a habit of mine to read various articles. With the free time that I possess, I would be glad to help.
Engineer Girl - want to do my bit for the city and those in need
I currently reside in Mandsaur (M.P.)
I am a Qualified Chartered Accountant and a MBA grad. I also possess one year of work experience.
I am an Finance and Accounting professional with a prior experience of working in a start-up environment, wherein I was directly reportable to the Business Head. Was in-charge of managing projects and umpteen inter-departmental co-ordination. Have an experience of moderating WhatsApp groups.
Quite disappointed with the spread of misinformation and the callous attitude displayed by many of us, would like to help tackle this as much as I can. Its all hands on the deck
I am a social worker associated with various NGOs.
I am from Faridabad, NCR Region. I have been to a lot of Model United Nations, and even organised one. When Coronavirus surfaced in China, I wrote an independent article on the situation:(https://theredmegaphone.wixsite.com/theredmegaphone/post/coronavirus---covid-19). I have been active on the r/coronavirus subreddit. I am good with tech and I am quite free right now due to closure of my institute.
Hi I'm from west bengal. I completed my engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and MBA from IIM Kozikode, currently working in Infinite as client partner. I'm mostly staying home and can have some spare time to help in this cause. There are multiple rumors are going around, I would like to help people to get the correct information and fight this virus collectively. I can help in other ways too like contacts..
i observe, think, learn, share.
I am an Indian Origin person living in Canada. Software Engineer by profession, Indian at heart.
I work as an associate consultant in a healthcare related consulting firm, secondary research is an essential element of my assignments.
Researcher with a PhD in computer science, originally from Bangalore working in California
Product manager from bangalore, IIMB grad
BS-MS Student from IISER TVM. DC fan.
Researcher with a PhD in computer science, originally from Kolkata working in California
Postdoctoral scholar in computational structural biology at University of California San Francisco.
An article by Akshata Rao
Of late, a sinking feeling about human behavior has been simmering inside me. The emotion does not stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, notwithstanding the evidence that it has been devastating for many. Mankind has struggled with many disasters in its past. The source of my anguish emanates from the response that we, as a people, have had to these difficult times. That I see more instances of angry, finger-pointing, rabble-rousing conduct instead of a steady, rational and collected response. No battles are ever won by infighting troops.
When times are tough, people look for a simplistic explanation for their misery. It happened to marginalized communities during World War II, when some groups manipulated the society to make them believe the source of all their problems were those who were “different”. It transpired again during the aftermath of India’s partition, with many families suffering on both sides. Those who crave that power without responsibility, use every trick in the book to channel public anger for their own benefit. Suffering, angry people tend to forget that the rabble rouser is shirking their responsibility of bringing about peace and prosperity. While humanity has had its collaborative moments like the Paris agreement to combat climate change, it has also suffered through divisive years during the World Wars. I worried that we may be headed down the dark path this time.
However, in the past few weeks, I have seen a tiny speck of hope grow a little by little each day. It was kindled when I signed up to volunteer for the COVID-19 India Handbook initiative (covidindiasupport.com). The handbook is an assortment of COVID-19 related resources for India, such as testing centers, NGOs, helplines, startups trying to ease the hardships brought by the pandemic. As I began contributing to the handbook, I noticed that most volunteers didn’t know each other at all. The team is infact a variegated patchwork of people who differ in age, gender and backgrounds. While some are working professionals, in fields of biology, information technology, services, government and finance, there are a few more who are high school and college students. There was one thread that connected us all; we wanted to help.
I have seen self-motivated volunteers brainstorm for hours on what resources would the public benefit from. A couple of students offered to build us a website. Another volunteer made us an app. Volunteers meet often to decide how to spread awareness, choose areas to work on and follow up. Some actively moderate ‘viral kindness groups’; community-driven networks across the country to help those around them in need. It has been a humbling lesson in kindness and self-motivation.
Since then, I have learnt that despair, fear and anger have a common cause : the feeling of not having control in our life. Even though life is an amalgamation of moments that we cannot alter, contributing to positive change is a sure bet to allow hope to replace resentment. If we wish to usher in a harmonious future, we must build it ourselves. And as long as there are people willing to work towards that future, I have hope for humanity.
If you’d like to join our growing team of volunteers for the COVID-19 India Handbook initiative, find out how you can contribute here.