Together in Unity and Solidarity, Indonesia Against Corona

This afternoon I have ‘official duty’ to pick up my mother from school. Understandably, a teacher has a schedule to do school picket, she/he cannot fully work from home. While riding the motor at medium speed, I looked around. The streets were deserted this afternoon, some places that are usually crowded also seemed deserted. Cafes, shopping centers, and places to hangout for young people are also not as busy as usual, some have even started to close to comply with the government’s #stayhome policy.

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Passing the Gandekan traffic light, my eyes fell on someone who distributed free masks to motorists. Wow, that’s great, I thought. I also got the mask. “Don’t forget to always wash your hands and wear a mask when you leave the house, Sis,” he said kindly while handing me the mask.

Tin tiiin. A motor behind me honked its horn. The light is already green. I started my motor again. Passing through the Sriwedari area, a sight caught my attention again. Two young people were distributing rice boxes to pedicab drivers and street vendors. I pulled over for a moment, asking one of them. “For daily workers who can’t #stayhome and they who has disadvantaged from the pandemic impact, Sis”. Ouch. I’ve often seen my social media timelines full of invitations to share and fight the corona virus together, but I cannot imagine this movement being massive and evenly distributed in almost all cities.

When I got home, I immediately washed my hands with soap and then took turns showering with my mother. After my body was clean and changed into clean clothes, I opened social media. I’m curious just how many small movements showing their optimism to fight the corona together in Indonesia. Uhh. It turns out that the Indonesian people are extraordinary.

Producing PPE for Free Distribution to Medical Workers

The Anne Avantie Foundation has stopped all production to help produce PPE suits for medical personnel. With manual production due to existing production limitations, Anne Avantie produces PPE which will later be donated to hospitals. Budhi Hermawan, a resident of Yogyakarta, collaborated with a number of home tailors to produce PPE independently. Budhi and the home tailors voluntarily made PPE clothes to later be distributed to a number of health centers and hospitals in Yogyakarta. This movement began to spread in various cities, both carried out by home tailors and large industries.

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Donation Raising by Celebrities, Celebrities, and Influencers

• Celebrity Rachel Venya managed to raise almost 5M in 3 days. This fund will later be intended for the procurement of sanitation equipment and sent to Covid referral hospitals spreading throughout Indonesia.
• Youtuber Atta Halilintar raises funds through Kita Bisa. Funds were collected as much as 199 million to buy PPE for health workers and buy basic necessities for small communities.
• Andovi da Lopes carried out a unique fundraising action by reading the contents of the KBBI thoroughly for 14 hours and broadcasting it live through the channel. This action managed to raise 200 million funds which would later be purchased for sanitation equipment for health workers.
• Youtuber and influencer Arif Muhammad and his wife raise funds through Kita Bisa. The funds collected reached more than 1.4 billion, later to buy groceries for small communities affected by the corona and provide access to checks and treatment.
• The singer Afghan did a fundraiser and raised 156 million for the purchase of PPE for medical personnel.
• Mesty Ariotedjo through the donation site he founded, wecare, has collected 194 million donations which will later be purchased for PPE for health workers.
• Maia Estianty with her campaign “Help the People and Medical Workers” has collected 77 million of the target of 100 million which will later buy PPE for medical personnel.

Movements to Make a Contribution of All We Can Do

Tirta Mandira Hudi, a doctor who is also an influencer, initiated a movement with the hashtags #Kurirkebaikan and #Sharingiscaring. One of the movements carried out is to invite people to share with others, one of which is by buying food through ojol and then giving the food to them. Another movement that was also carried out by dr. Tirta is the installation of 1000 point disinfectant chambers in Jakarta and the spraying of disinfectants in places of worship, busways, and public transportation.

I closed my social media because there was an incoming WhatsApp message. A message from an old friend. An invitation to donate, to raise funds to distribute Hand Sanitizer to workers who cannot work from home, such as traders in the market, street vendors, pedicab drivers, motorcycle taxi drivers, and others. My heart warms up. The increasingly massive movement against corona at the grassroots makes me believe that Indonesia can fight corona, together with Indonesia we can!