Sorted by: Theme: Inspiration & Hope

Written Story by Emily D.

The traffic has come to a screeching halt, as it so often does during heatwaves. Portland is a city that doesn’t like extremes; if it got too cold, the city would shut down beneath the 2” blanket of snow. If it got too hot, like today, the tunnel to Hwy 26 would back up all the way to the 217 exit.

Of course, I was grateful to be stuck in traffic— given just two years ago the road was much emptier as Portland faced a different extreme that would grind us to a halt. Perhaps Oregon wasn’t the worst state to be stuck in during a global pandemic. Especially compared to some of the other states I heard about on the news. I was grateful our lawmakers and state representatives had taken the virus seriously and prioritized worker safety when it mattered most. In some states, ~~martyrs~~ people were not given the same luxury.

In the beginning of the pandemic, back when the common belief was that in 2-3 weeks “this whole thing would be over”, I was actually relieved to have an extended spring break. The previous terms had been hard as I struggled to adjust to my new college environment. But the relief would be replaced with longing. I couldn’t stay at home for very long, as family tension (exacerbated by the pandemic) forced me to find housing elsewhere. I was alone, barring my cat, in an apartment 200 miles away from my loved ones. The independence that had once tasted so sweet, was now soured by anxiety and depression.

So, I began to walk. First, just around the neighborhood. Then, I started walking a little further with no real destination in mind. Walking gave me a space to check in with my feelings and talk to myself. In each step, I could feel my fears coming to the surface. What if something happens to my parents? Will I get through this next school year? How do I fight this loneliness? I’m scared. Walking through the wooded hills of West Eugene, I tried to find normalcy in the small things. Like the neighborhood cats that would meow at me from their perch on the front lawn— as though they too knew to keep a distance. I tried not to let my eyes settle for too long on the empty playgrounds or shuttered businesses.

A lot of the pandemic can be measured in loss. For the longest, loss was the only way for me to mark the passage of time. Oh, this is when I would’ve been travelling for my honor society convention. Today is graduation week— is there a graduation? I would’ve started work today. When I was walking, I could see my progress. Everyday, the walk would get a little longer until I was walking 3-5 miles daily. Walking was the only control I had over my life at this time and I savored every mile.

Today, sitting in the hot, June traffic, I am grateful to have a destination to attend in the first place. I no longer measure my life through absence but rather I look for the parts that keep my heart full. I am grateful to be surrounded by my friends and family and that they survived the COVID pandemic. I am grateful that I successfully finished school and was able to return to Portland. While I no longer walk miles and miles everyday, I’ve retained the practice of checking in with myself and taking stock of my feelings. I’m scared sometimes but it’s okay. And the traffic begins to ease.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeInspiration & HopeMental Health/Wellbeing

Medium: Written

Author: Emily D.

Date Submitted: November 27, 2023

Bio:

I am a 22-year-old Black woman born and raised in Portland. I was a student at the University of Oregon during the pandemic and graduated in 2021.

Written Story by Catherine

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As an immune compromised disabled person, the possibility of getting COVID-19 was terrifying. My partner is a mechanic and was considered to be an essential worker who could not work from home, so knowing he was going in and out of other people’s vehicles everyday was also very concerning for me throughout the process. Add to that the shortages of hand sanitizer, antibacterial hand soap, and various cleaning products, I often worried he wasn’t able to sanitize things well enough as he went in and out of stranger’s cars. I was constantly afraid he would get COVID-19 and pass it to me, knowing that if I got it I could end up hospitalized or dead. I began hearing stories about disabled folks in hospitals who were denied adequate medical care, and due to lack of beds and ventilators they were being left in hallways to die, as medical staff were making decisions about who lives and who dies. I was devastated to see how people with disabilities were being treated like they were insignificant and didn’t deserve to live, and I feared the worst could happen to me too.

There has been such rampant misinformation in the past several years, it has really been shocking to see how a public health crisis became such a politicized issue for so many people. It brought out some of the most selfish behaviors in a lot of people, as if they were completely oblivious to the fact that we live in a world where we should be helping support the most vulnerable people, and instead were labeling the elderly and disabled people as being disposable. It was appalling to witness so many anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers just not even care about how their actions (or lack thereof) affect so many others. The fact that so many people were saying it was their choice to not wear masks or not get vaccinated completely ignored how those choices could affect the lives of others.

Even now, I still have to deal with family members questioning my choice to wear masks and get vaccinated, by telling me “don’t believe the covid hoax” or that I am just “giving into fear.” My own mother came to visit me last year and I had insisted she needed to wear a mask on the plane even though the mask requirement had been lifted. When she was here she made a comment about people wearing masks in the airport and I said to her “but you were wearing a mask too, right?” and she responded “no, why would I do that?” I reminded her she had promised me she would and she just said “oops, I forgot.” She also questioned my insistence that she wear one in the grocery store while she was visiting, to which I said “because I am immunocompromised” and she responded, “yeah, but I’m not.” It’s been really heartbreaking at times to see so much disregard for those of us at higher risk and to see so many people just not care or understand how their choice to not wear masks can affect us.

I’ve struggled to find ways to interact in person with others while not knowing who to believe about how safe they actually are and trying to navigate risk factors on a continual basis. This was already a concern of mine for years regarding the cold and flu, but COVID-19 just brought it to a whole new level. After about a year of isolation where the only person I saw in person was my partner who I live with, I tried to find the courage to safely meet up with friends again. I ended up having multiple times where the friend I was supposed to meet with ended up canceling because they contracted COVID-19. It left me feeling like there was no point in even trying anymore and I just needed to stay inside my safe bubble.

In addition to the isolation I was feeling from the pandemic, there were so many political and social justice movements happening at once. I had family members and friends who were

following QAnon and trying to push their beliefs on me, while I was just fighting to survive. During the summer of 2020, Portland became an epicenter for white supremacists to gather during the Black Lives Matter protests. We heard helicopters and gunshots on a nightly basis, and I had numerous friends who were targeted by the Proud Boys due to their race. I even heard air raid sirens in the middle of the night a few times after Trump sent in the National Guard to take down the protestors. Then the Oregon wildfires in the summer of 2020 made it feel like I was living a post-apocalyptic nightmare. I felt completely overwhelmed that there was so much happening in the world out of my control. I hit a deep depression, consumed by my feelings of helplessness.

I found the best way to work through that pain was by throwing myself into pursuits of racial and disability justice movements. I may not be able to safely endure the front lines at protests, but I knew I could offer my skills in virtual spaces to help bring others together through these social justice movements.

In the late spring of 2020, I volunteered to help set up an online Facebook group to go along with the Crip Camp Virtual experience (a 16 week seminar focused on Disability Justice). I thought maybe a few dozen or so local Portlanders would be interested in joining a discussion group, but before I knew it the space was shared with the organizers of the event and they began promoting it as the community led FB group for people to join. Within a matter of weeks we had over 4,000 members from all over the world, and recruited an admin and moderator team of about 20 people. We then created 3 separate groups so that disabled folks could safely share their thoughts and feelings with one another, allies could have their own space, and then our moderator team had their own group to work through creating group rules together and also deal with problematic issues as they came up.

After Crip Camp Virtual finished, I was asked to step up as administrator for a Portland based Disability Justice FB group, and by the following summer I applied to be on the board of a new Disability Justice nonprofit. There I became the project manager of a virtual zoom space called “Crip Create” that is rooted in the principles of Disability Justice. This space helps bring together disabled folks from all over the world to be in community with one another for coworking, body doubling, and socialization. It has been incredibly valuable to help those of us still living in isolation to have a sense of comradery and validation for the experiences we have due to the numerous oppressions we face as disabled and multiply marginalized individuals (the majority of the people who come are also LGBTQIA+ and/or BIPOC). That space has been an actual life saver for me and so many others, and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to help run and organize that space for so long.

I am beyond grateful for the opportunities that I have found to engage with my communities virtually in pursuit of Disability Justice. I have found myself much busier and more fulfilled being able to participate in so many amazing virtual events and give back to my community in this way. While many able-bodied folks complained about how awful it was to be stuck at home during the lockdowns, for me that was the life I had already known. I was tremendously grateful to see so many spaces shift to allow for virtual participation and find new ways to engage with the community. For me, that is a gift that I found through the pandemic. I hope that in the future organizers can continue to make events and community spaces more accessible to everyone by also offering virtual opportunities for engagement.

Witnessing the horrors of the pandemic was incredibly overwhelming and terrifying in numerous ways. I struggled a lot with being frozen in fear and not knowing what I could do to help. In contrast to my anger about all of the selfishness that many people were exhibiting, I found hope in seeing all of the mutual aid happening around me, and I wondered how I (given my limited resources and physical abilities) could give back too. I tried to move my way through the dread and outrage by focusing on the love and generosity I saw. There was a lot of ugly but there was also a lot of beauty. I took this opportunity as a call to action for me to put my organizational skills to work, fighting against systemic injustice and oppression by creating a deeper connection with my community and others.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationDisability/ImmunocompromisedEssayEssential WorkIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & HopeMental Health/WellbeingOrganizing & Movement BuildingRemote ConnectionsWork/Unemployment

Medium: Written

Author: Catherine

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

Catherine holds a BA in Sociology from New College of Florida and has completed the Disability Justice Leadership training by the Disability Arts and Culture Project (DACP) in Portland, OR. Throughout her life, she has actively engaged in leadership roles for social justice causes, starting in high school in the 1990s when she was chosen as a peer educator on HIV/AIDS. For the past decade, she has navigated life with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), although she had wrestled with various symptoms long before that. In her professional career, Catherine served as a project and account manager for a software company until her MS diagnosis ultimately led to the loss of her job. By merging her lived experience of disability with her unwavering dedication to social justice, Catherine has found meaning and community in building grassroots Disability Justice projects.

Written Story by Anonymous

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50 years from now, I will be close to my 70s. Hopefully I have grandchildren, and I was a great parent to my children so that they feel comfortable enough bringing my grandchildren to me. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have my grandparents, but I had my parents. I got to hear stories of how things were back in the day. They would end it with a chuckle saying “it was a crazy time”. They lived through a civil war, so it was definitely a crazy time. Growing up I got to hear what I think are exaggerated stories of their childhood, and how life was. I don’t know if I feel lucky, or overwhelmed to live out my teen years during historical times. It is both.

In 50 years I would like to exaggerate COVID and its effects in my life and my community, but how do I exaggerate something that in itself just seems ridiculous and unbelievable. I will tell my grandchildren of how people’s first reactions were to stock up on food. I went into the WinCo by my house with my mum, thinking we were ahead of the game. Trying to stock up and get ready for the lockdown, but as we walked in we saw a crowd of people. The whole place was packed. I called myself an expert cart driver, and that title was tested that day. We had to maneuver around people speed walking to grab things before they were gone. If you wanted something but got there too late, it was empty. I had never seen WinCo this packed, even for the holidays. My grandkids will understand people stocking up on food, but may not understand people stocking up on toilet paper. The sociological theory of the self-fulfilling prophecy, where people thought that toilet paper was going to run out, and then ended up making the toilet papers run out. That one still baffles me.

People were stocking up for food, and then what? Then came the lockdown. The streets were deserted. How are my grandchildren, and even people in 50 years going to believe that? Our population is growing rapidly. Unless we have somehow figured out a way to live on Mars and move people there, there is no way our streets will ever be empty. It will be no exaggeration when I tell them that there were no cars on the streets, no people, no dogs. No one was outside during this time. It was empty. People turned to the internet so much more than before. TIKTOK, if it is still a thing by 2073, saw an exponential growth during the lockdown. That was how people communicated. We are moving more and more into a digital age, and it is fair to say the pandemic played a huge part in it. More virtual jobs, due to adaptation and in some way, the fear of experiencing a virus that can shut the world down. The world. Not just one city, state, country, or continent, but the world. Everyone was submissive and at the mercy of COVID-19. The mention of its name still shakes heads, and in 2073 still will.

I remember engaging my AVID class in 9th grade to sing the happy birthday song as I washed my hands. And now we all graduated on the 17th still somewhat feeling like strangers. We finished our 9th grade year online, and for the most part of our sophomore year too. By Junior some of us, including me, went on to be a part of the Early College Program. My “highschool experience” of walking down the hall, being loud and obnoxious on the bus, making friends and rivals, were all limited to the first semester of 9th grade. The class of 2023 had to grow up fast. We had to grow out of the highschool phase faster than we had thought. I was the class of 2023, and in 50 years I will continue to mention how we had to say goodbye twice. In 9th grade, and in the 12th grade as well. How do I explain to my grandchildren in a way that allows them feel my hurt of being robbed of my highschool experience? All the individual crazy highschool

stories I could have had to share with them before I “knew better” all came down to the one I’m writing. I got to witness the explosion of the digital world, people fighting for toilet paper, WinCo being crowded, and looking at names on black screens rather than people’s faces.

I have always thought about exaggerating my life stories to my kids and grandkids, just like my parents and relatives exaggerated theirs to me. My journey is definitely not over yet, as I am just about to enter college. I will have many more stories to exaggerate, and many more stories to tell. However the pandemic, I couldn’t possibly exaggerate that. The facts alone are jarring. Nothing else has been able to bring the world together like COVID-19, and in 50 years, nothing else might have either. Living through history is something special, and terrifying. I cannot skip pages to see how it ends. I wish I could have. I thought the pandemic would never end. Like an apocalypse movie, I really thought we were all going to die. We celebrate the medical teams that put their lives on the line every day. That puts in their time, strength, and mind into helping. We grieve those we lost, and those who lost something. We congratulate those who made it through and adapted, which is everyone still here. All in all, it was something. We had our ups and downs, but we healed. Even the earth was healing itself from the madness. I will definitely say we got grounded by mother nature. I will not forget to leave. out. Add it as a warning to my grandchildren. Be good to the earth, remember what happened in 2020. It was really a crazy time.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & HopeWork/Unemployment

Medium: Written

Author: Anonymous

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Written Story by A. Smith

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Creativity for Equal Access

Because of the pandemic, we currently live in a world where immunocompromised and other disabled and high-risk people don’t have equal access to society.

Somehow, we’ve rewound and rewritten the last 50 years of disability history, protest, and legislation.

COVID is still here, and everyone is still being impacted by it in many different ways, even when that isn’t always acknowledged. It especially now feels so present for immunocompromised and other high-risk people, because the societal and governmental desire to “move on” has left many vulnerable people behind. When even a visit to the doctor’s office now provides an increased risk of severe illness or death for more vulnerable people because masking is no longer being used for infection control, higher-risk people face a much harder time trying to protect themselves. I find it so immensely difficult and burdening to try to protect myself, and this burden has expanded a lot because we’ve as a society largely stopped trying.

Instead of trying to reduce exposure, we’ve stopped counting cases.

Instead of the most simple act of care – wearing a high-quality mask when sharing spaces with others indoors, because COVID spreads the air – we often refuse to do so, choosing instead to leave large numbers of people out of society instead of doing something we find slightly less convenient that would allow for other people to access public spaces.

And with each of these things, the world becomes less and less safe for vulnerable people.

What the world is missing is creativity. Many disabled people have learned how to be innovative and creative in order to reshape the world to match their needs. My disabled parents taught me this from a young age – to change according to the circumstances; that a life well lived includes creativity to address what you experience. I have learned this even more as an immunocompromised, mainly bedbound adult. Adapting things, being creative, you can not only make things work, you can make them work well.

The world was so much more equal in access for many disabled people starting at the beginning of the pandemic (a pandemic that is not yet over). Suddenly, I could watch a favorite performer’s concert online or tune in to an opera or join in other virtual opportunities. Although I can no longer work so it did not personally affect me, many people were now allowed to work remotely – something which I had been denied by a job years earlier (“If you’re well enough to work from home, you’re well enough to come to work” is what HR told me). The world became more accessible in 2020, because everyone needed accessibility.

But over the last couple years, the world has become less accessible again. Most food places have stopped offering curbside options, even though immunocompromised people can’t safely go into spaces where there are a lot of unmasked people. The world largely stopped the online performances, the virtual conferences, the accessible options disabled people for years had advocated for. Instead of keeping a more accessible infrastructure, we have dismantled it in our attempts to claim some semblance of “normal”. But nothing is “normal” yet, and normal cannot and should not include inaccessibility.

Indeed, we’ve retreated in our accessibility even further than where we were before the pandemic started. We’ve gotten rid of mask requirements that allow immunocompromised and other more vulnerable people to more safely access areas of society such as the store, doctor’s offices, and public events. This creates a culture where higher-risk people have to risk getting a virus that can cause severe illness or death to access public spaces. As disabled advocates teach, public accommodations belong to every person; they do not only belong to people who consider themselves at less risk. And yet, societally we are currently ignoring the equal rights of higher-risk people and see it as okay, because we want to avoid physical reminders, such as masks, of the traumas we’ve experienced and continue to experience.

We’ve largely ignored that in the last year, two of our main tools – monoclonal antibodies and the preventative treatment Evusheld – no longer work because of how COVID’s evolved. Many people often act as though higher-risk people need to just get on with it and stop taking precautions, even though a lot of COVID remains in our communities and the CDC still tells immunocompromised people to avoid crowded and not well ventilated spaces and to mask and stay away from others if they have to go into such spaces. The World Health Organization often reminds people of the dangers of Long COVID and how many people are still passing away from COVID. Meanwhile, many act as though “life goes on,” but this is with the loss of so many people and of other people continuing to be excluded, and that affects the world in many different ways.

We need to be better, and we need to be creative. If we’re creative, we can reduce COVID transmission and ensure that disabled people have equal access to society.

Society as a whole ran from staying at home the moment that they could, even though the early days of staying home were largely the same as my every day experiences as a mainly bedbound person. It’s hard to think about your everyday experience being something that others can’t wait to move away from. But I’ve learned how to adapt, be creative, live my life in a way that meets my needs and is beautiful. Disabled people have tried to share this knowledge with the world over the past three years, and the world has largely ignored this in favor of the “normal” that we wish we could go back to.

However, we as a society could improve so much by building back creatively, innovatively, accessibly. This can include simple things like wearing masks in public spaces, requiring masks in healthcare settings, and improving ventilation. It’s not too late for us to create a more accessible society and ensure equal access to all members of society, all of whom have an equal right to public spaces. We just have to be creative.

Themes:

AbleismCommunity Connection & IsolationDisability/ImmunocompromisedEssayGrief & ChangeIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & Hope

Medium: Written

Author: A. Smith

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

A. Smith is an immunocompromised/disabled advocate.

Written Story by Gaby Gaeta

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Cambio de vida a raíz de la pandemia

¿Alguna vez has sentido miedo de enfrentarte a lo desconocido?

Creo que la mayoría de las personas sentimos miedo al inicio de la pandemia por estar a la expectativa de si nos contagiaríamos de COVID-19 o si alguno de nuestros familiares padecerían la enfermedad, porque para todos era algo nuevo y desconocido, algo con lo que nunca en nuestra vida nos habíamos enfrentado, algo que hasta los mismos científicos desconocían y se ignoraba cual sería la cura, tal vez para la mayoría de las personas la pandemia de COVID-19 solo vino a dejar cosas malas, pero estamos tan acostumbrados a una vida mecánica en la que realizamos prácticamente las mismas acciones todos los días y en lo personal creo que la pandemia de COVID-19 aún y con los estragos que ocasionó vino a enseñarnos que debemos de tomar una pausa, un respiro en nuestra vida para realizar cosas diferentes, olvidarnos de que todo en la vida es trabajo y que en casa tenemos familia que nos espera y a la cual debemos dedicarle tiempo de calidad.

Es verdad que al desconocer una enfermedad como lo es COVID-19 todos teníamos miedo porque no sabíamos cómo podíamos enfrentar esa pandemia o que podíamos hacer para evitar contagiarnos, situación que nos llevó a presentar cuadros de estrés y por consiguiente adquirir diversas enfermedades mentales como ansiedad o depresión, teníamos temor de convivir con las demás personas por lo que nuestras relaciones personales se fueron deteriorando a tal grado de sentirnos solos; no podíamos acudir a nuestros lugares de trabajo porque la regla fundamental para evitar contagiarte era no acudir a lugares donde hubiera demasiadas personas, muchas personas no solo perdimos estabilidad emocional, sino que también estabilidad económica ya que muchos centros de trabajo tuvieron que cerrar sus puertas, cosa que agravó más la situación, porque ahora no solo teníamos que pensar en qué hacer para no contagiarnos, también teníamos que pensar en qué hacer para sobrevivir, porque nuestros ahorros se iban terminando y ahora ya no solo estábamos luchando en contra de una enfermedad respiratoria, también lo hacíamos en contra de una enfermedad emocional que muchas noches nos provocaba trastornos del sueño por estar pensando de qué manera íbamos a generar un ingreso para poder pagar nuestras cuentas.

Pero aunque pareciera que la pandemia de COVID-19 solo vino a dejarnos cosas malas, debemos de reflexionar y pensar que también nos ha dejado cosas positivas, nos enseñó nuevas formas de organizarnos, a usar más la tecnología, a tener mejores hábitos de higiene personal, nuevas formas de convivencia, mejores relaciones familiares y mucha creatividad, porque cuando el dinero no alcanzaba y no teníamos empleo tuvimos que ser creativos y aprender un oficio nuevo que nos diera la forma de subsistir, pareciera que todo es malo porque desafortunadamente la pandemia de COVID-19 cobró muchas vidas pero para los que sobrevivimos a ella solo queda agradecer lo bueno que nos dejó y analizar por qué seguimos aquí y seguramente es porque necesitamos hacer un cambio de vida…

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeInspiration & HopeMental Health/WellbeingWork/Unemployment

Medium: Written

Author: Gaby Gaeta

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

Rosa Gabriela Gaeta Ortiz, Baker City, Oregon

Written Story by Morena Lopez

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La pandemia y mi cambio de vida

Empecé como voluntaria en una organización sin fines de lucro y sin darme cuenta estaba aprendiendo en ese lugar me daría la oportunidad de cambiar mi vida en los tiempos de pandemia.

Para mucha gente o para la mayoría, la pandemia fue la etapa más difícil de sus vidas, perdieron familiares queridos. Otros perdieron empleos, perdieron casas, y perdieron la estabilidad que tenían. Yo también perdí a alguien que quería y mi familia sufrió grandes cambios, pero no fue por causa de la pandemia sino por otros efectos y decisiones tomadas anteriormente, y aunque ese cambio fue muy difícil tengo que decir que la pandemia jugó un papel muy importante y para mi a diferencia de otras personas no fue malo. Por fortuna en mi familia no murió nadie, mi estabilidad mejoró, no perdí empleos sino que mejoró y mi familia no sufrió por hambre. Por fortuna gracias a la pandemia mi vida dio un giro de 180 grados.

En noviembre de 2020 se abrió una posición para trabajar en un sindicato de trabajadores agrícolas. Un puesto de organizadora comunitaria con el enfoque en repartir materiales de protección por covid, mascarillas desinfectantes guantes así como información de prevención de covid. Anteriormente trabajé en el campo por más de 8 años haciendo todo tipo de trabajos, azadón, poda, pizcas.

Empecé a trabajar en este sindicato y aparte de que este trabajo me dio estabilidad económica y mental. Me dio la oportunidad de aprender de la comunidad, aprendí la capacidad de resiliencia que tenemos como individuos, y que a pesar de cada reto que enfrentamos y de cada golpe que recibimos tenemos la capacidad de levantarse para seguir trabajando y hacernos más fuertes. Cara a cara vi la fuerza de la unidad, del trabajo colaborativo y de la importancia que tiene el poder informar a la gente para que ellos mismos sepan qué hacer. Cara a cara vi el dolor en las caras de las personas por no tener los recursos necesarios cuando tenían la pérdida de más de un familiar por COVID 19 y aparte del cambio traumático para la familia tenían que lidiar con el problema de donde buscar dinero para mandar los cuerpos a sus lugares de origen. Conozco mujeres que quedaron solas con sus hijos, padres que ahora se enfrentan a la vida sin sus esposas para educar a sus hijos y lo mas triste hijos que se quedaron sin ambos padres enfrentando la vida con algún otro familiar que de ninguna manera llenaran los vacíos en sus corazones.

Respeto el dolor y las experiencias diferentes que la gente tiene sobre los tiempos de la pandemia, respeto los duelos y las pérdidas pero tengo que reconocer que estoy en el lugar donde estoy por la necesidad de la comunidad de tener información, de saber a dónde acudir. Agradezco la oportunidad de aprender de cada una de las personas que apoyamos, cada persona aporta sabiduría a mi vida, la riqueza del conocimiento de la comunidad es inmensa y agradezco la oportunidad que me brindan en cada plática de poder aprender. El compartir siempre enriquece, y tengo la gran fortuna de ser parte de una comunidad resiliente, unida y con mucho amor para compartir.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & HopeMental Health/WellbeingWork/Unemployment

Medium: Written

Author: Morena Lopez

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

Estoy enamorada de la vida y agradecida por cada experiencia, cada error y cada acierto que he tenido porque todo me ha ayudado a crecer y a ser lo que soy ahora. La vida es para aprender y quiero que me siga sorprendiendo.

Written Story by Evangelina Gabriel

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De el rumor a el dolor

Haciendo limpieza en casa y junto con mil documentos que intentó desechar descubro unas tarjetas que tienen el nombre de cada uno de los miembros de mi familia y en ellos indica la certificación de haber sido vacunados contra el Covid-19. A mi mente vuelve el recuerdo del año 2020, se auguraban buenas cosas para ese año, pero nunca imaginamos lo difícil que la pasaríamos en los meses siguientes, comenzando por la angustia al escuchar en las redes sociales sobre un virus que se había “escapado” de un laboratorio en Asia … está en China, ahora en Italia, ya llegó a América … se escuchaba y veíamos escenas que parecían sacadas de una película, mientras tanto, junto con la incredulidad también se sentía el miedo cuando se impusieron la distancia, el cubrebocas y la cuarentena!, pudimos palpar ese miedo cuando mandaron a mi esposo a casa pues en su trabajo había infectados, estábamos asustados, nos preocupaba absolutamente todo, desde nuestras hijas, las compras en el supermercado, la iglesia, los centros de trabajo, hasta el ir a el parque nos asustaba. Pero nada como la angustia de ver a mi Padre hospitalizado. Mi padre y mi madre llegaron de México y ocho días después pedimos hospedarlos en un hotel pues en casa de mi hermana para ese entonces ya estaban infectados algunos de los miembros de su familia, aunque ya era demasiado tarde ellos ya tenían el virus dentro de su cuerpo, mi padre estuvo aislado dos interminables meses, la mayoría del tiempo inconsciente, mientras su esposa, hijos, nietos y conocidos rezábamos incansablemente para que sucediera el milagro que lo volviera a casa. Juntas informativas con los doctores nos hacían pensar que llegaba lo inminente, por la edad y porque otras condiciones de su salud hacían más difícil su recuperación pero la fe en Dios y en los médicos seguía estando ahí. Junto con mis hijas y una fe infinita en el tan deseado milagro rezábamos cada noche y sé que como nosotros otras tantas personas hacían lo mismo por sus seres queridos, mi mente en ese entonces ya estaba resignada a que en cualquier momento ese teléfono sonará y nos dieran la mala noticia. Como nosotros, muchas personas pasaban la misma tragedia, pero quizás lo más triste fue esperar en casa sin poder mirar a nuestros enfermos y en los casos más trágicos ni siquiera poder despedirse de ellos cuando morían en la más triste soledad de un cuarto de hospital. Otras muchas personas murieron en sus casas, al no encontrar un centro médico que tuviera espacio para ellos o algunos por miedo a no volver a mirar a su familia pues se contaba que al llegar al hospital muchos eran entubados y la mayoría no sobrevivía, muchos casos demasiado tristes que no se olvidarán jamás. Afortunadamente y gracias a los médicos, a las oraciones y a las ganas de vivir de mi padre podremos celebrar una vez más el Día del padre, con las consecuencias que el COVID-19 nos dejó, físicas, emocionales, médicas y económicas puesto que sus pulmones necesitan de vez en cuando oxígeno y visitas más frecuentes al médico afectando esto a su bolsillo pero sobre todo nos enseñó el valor de abrazar una vez más a tu familia y amigos pensando que algún día tuvimos que renunciar a la demostración física del afecto y el amor.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayInspiration & HopeMental Health/Wellbeing

Medium: Written

Author: Evangelina Gabriel

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Written Story by Evy

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Mi experiencia con COVID-19

Muchos fuimos los afectados por la pandemia de Covid-19 pero en esta ocasión quiero contar mi experiencia personal, al principio cuando se dio a conocer que la enfermedad era considerada como pandemia mundial yo no creía que estuviéramos viviendo algo de esa magnitud, pensé que solo era desinformación por parte de los medios de comunicación y las redes sociales, se decía que ya había muchas personas enfermas pero como pasaban los días, quizá los meses y ni yo ni mi familia nos contagiábamos seguía creyendo que era solo una mentira, pero al pasar de algunos meses me contagié, comencé con síntomas y me rehusaba a creer que había llegado el COVID 19 a mi familia, pasaron algunos días y mi esposo y mis hijos comenzaron también con síntomas, acudimos a hacernos la prueba y salimos positivos, ahí sentí que el mundo se me venía abajo, creí que solo íbamos a presentar síntomas leves pero no fue así, mi esposo y yo presentamos síntomas graves, al grado de no poder atender a nuestros hijos, tuvimos que dejar de trabajar y al ser indocumentados no recibíamos ningún apoyo de gobierno, no tenemos familiares cerca que nos pudieran ayudar a comprar medicamentos o comida, no podíamos salir porque sabíamos que poníamos en riesgo a las demás personas y a pesar de que aparentemente nos encontrábamos solos la ayuda empezó a llegar por parte de amigos y vecinos, al darse cuenta de que estábamos enfermos nos empezaron a llevar comida y medicamentos con la única finalidad de ayudarnos, ahí fue donde nos dimos cuenta que en realidad nunca hemos estado solos, que aunque no contemos con familia de sangre por estar en un país que no es el nuestro, tenemos amigos que se han convertido en familia y que nunca nos dejarán solos y están siempre para apoyarnos.

Creo que muchas personas al igual que yo al principio estaban incrédulas de lo que era el COVID-19 y de lo que nos esperaba por no saber qué era lo que teníamos que hacer para evitar enfermarnos pero era por la desinformación que circulaba en redes sociales, por eso considero de gran importancia el hecho de investigar las cosas antes de dar una opinión de cosas que no sabemos, en mi caso puedo decir que tanto yo como mi familia pudimos sobrevivir a la pandemia y que aparentemente quedamos sin secuelas, suerte con la que no corrieron muchas más personas ya que hubo un gran número de fallecimientos y de igual manera muchas personas que sobrevivieron quedaron con secuelas graves, por lo que debemos aprender que no todos corrimos con la suerte de saber que se nos está dando una segunda oportunidad para cambiar las cosas que estamos haciendo mal, la pandemia nos está dejando un aprendizaje de diferentes formas a todas las personas, por lo que debemos hacer un análisis personal y entender con qué finalidad estamos cada uno de nosotros en este planeta y los que sobrevivimos, agradecer que seguimos con vida

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & HopeMental Health/Wellbeing

Medium: Written

Author: Evy

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

Claudia Janett Gaeta Ortiz, Baker City, Oregon

Written Story by Angel CC

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¿Qué aprendió sobre sí mismo gracias a la pandemia?

En marzo de 2020, nos enfrentamos a uno de los retos mas aterradores en la historia reciente de la humanidad. Los científicos del mundo descubrieron un nuevo virus identificado como COVID-19. Este inesperado, pero predecible evento, resulto ser una pandemia moderna que cambio de la noche a la mañana las todas las actividades humanas. Este virus al ser de rápida propagación hizo que los gobiernos tomaran decisiones para evitar contagios masivos. Pasamos de tener una vida normal a una vida confinada.

Como con la mayoría de la población, la pandemia tuvo un impacto significativo en mí. Soy un estudiante internacional en la ciudad de Portland, Oregon en los Estados Unidos. Antes de la pandemia, tenia un trabajo el cual tuve que dejar por el confinamiento. Al principio parecía que íbamos a estar resguardados en casa durante dos o tres semanas. Al principio la idea parecía emocionante ya que serían unas minivacaciones. Pero el confinamiento se extendió y los problemas comenzaron. Al no haber trabajo, el dinero comenzó a escasear. Los días de estarse cuidando de la enfermedad, se turnaron en días de mucha incertidumbre. Las visitas a los bancos de comida se hacían cada vez más frecuentes, así como el buscar apoyos para pagar la renta y los servicios.

De repente, una gran parte de nuestras actividades se turnaron en virtuales gracias a las tecnologías de la información que tomaron una gran fuerza. Pase de ser una persona con mucha timidez a hablar frente a una cámara, a tener reuniones tres o mas veces durante el día. Zoom, Google Meets y otras aplicaciones de video, se convirtieron en nuestras app favoritas o mas utilizadas por la naturaleza del trabajo y los estudios.

Al pasar de los meses y con el numero de enfermedades en aumento, el encierro continuaba. Es aquí cuando comenzaron a llegar poco a poco las oportunidades que me dejaron las mayores enseñanzas durante la pandemia. Recibí una invitación del gobierno local de mi ciudad natal, para exponer mi experiencia como estudiante internacional en los Estados Unidos. La temática de la plática se llamó “Si tienes un sueño no te duermas.” El gobierno de la ciudad de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, México, invitó a un grupo de jóvenes que estaban estudiando o se habían graduado en otros países en el extranjero. Este tipo de plática motivacional fue el parteaguas de mis actividades como voluntario con la comunidad. Después de esta plática, llegaron otras invitaciones para participar con organizaciones sin fines de lucro, universidades e instituciones de gobierno en México y los Estados Unidos. Llego también la oportunidad de participar como coautor de un capítulo de libro. Igualmente, tuve la oportunidad de participar como ponente en congresos nacionales e internacionales.

A la fecha, he logrado participar como ponente en lugares tan remotos como Perú. Todo esto ha sido posible a la magia de la tecnología y lo que la pandemia nos vino a enseñar que debemos tener capacidad de adaptación y evolución. La pandemia nos vino a ensenar también que únicamente tenemos un solo hogar y que este nos provee todo lo que necesitamos. Si no aprendimos la lección, nuevas pandemias vendrán ya que nuestro estilo de vida y de alimentación esta cambiando al planeta. En lo personal, yo me siento mas humilde y trato de vivir una vida con lo necesario. Trato de alimentarme mejor directamente de los alimentos de la tierra. Trato de reducir lo que tiro y lo que reciclo. Trato de ayudar al prójimo en lo que puedo sin esperar nada a cambio. A pesar de haber perdido a seres queridos, estoy feliz de vivir en esta época. La pandemia fue una gran maestra. Tenemos que vivir nuestra vida al máximo buscando ser felices siendo humildes. Habrá gente que quiera descalificar la pandemia pero no es así. El covid-19 va a estar con nosotros como muchas otras enfermedades. Lo mejor que podemos hacer es aprender a reforzar nuestro sistema inmune de manera natural. Nuestra madre tierra no nos necesita, pero nosotros no podemos vivir sin ella. Amor y luz para todos y todas.

Themes:

Care & COVID 19Community Connection & IsolationEssayGrief & ChangeIdentity & Social ChangeInspiration & HopeWork/Unemployment

Medium: Written

Author: Angel CC

Date Submitted: November 22, 2023

Bio:

Estudiante internacional Mexicano en Portland, Oregon, Estados Unidos

Sorted by: Theme: Inspiration & Hope

Creativity for Equal Access

Cambio de vida a raíz de la pandemia

La pandemia y mi cambio de vida

De el rumor a el dolor

Mi experiencia con COVID-19

¿Qué aprendió sobre sí mismo gracias a la pandemia?

One of the Millions Missing