Archives for April 2020

Empathy in a Time of Crisis – 5

Team Empathy Journal – Part Five.

Continuing our blog about this time of global crisis, from the perspective of a voluntary team, and on a more personal level. Thank you for reading.

Each day new numbers scroll on our screens. Each day new stories navigate their ways via every conceivable channel to reveal the people behind the numbers: individuals, families, business and nations – all affected in their own ways. There are tragedies and hardships, and fears with many faces. Narratives tug at our hearts and headlines fill our minds.

Occasionally different stories interrupt the contagion, and we remember that there are forms of suffering and moments of joy wholly untouched by the virus. But soon they go quiet to make space for fresh facts and figures that roll out the next day. The heavy loads of information can be overwhelming and leave us at a loss to know what to do.

As a team we keep in touch by telling smaller stories, sharing uplifting moments and pungent finds of wild garlic. Worries are aired, and efforts to raise money for those hardest hit by COVID-19 are applauded. This week we were happy to lend a hand to our Syrian friends when they moved home, and we try to flag up local businesses transforming themselves to survive at this time.

We are also talking about an exciting new Empathy Action project – our Rainbow Campaign, a coming together of ideas in the shape of a new product made by a small group of our friends in South Africa. A limited number of their beautiful symbol of hope will be available very soon!

Zooming in on the micro helps to absorb the magnitude of the macro. It also enables us to deal with the fact that we cannot help everyone all at the same time. John Steinbeck wrote in his Journal, “Try to understand each other … if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love.” If we start off by being kind to ourselves, we will gain the strength to understand and be kind to others, and from there empathy will surely continue to flow, from the micro to the macro.

Stay in touch, keep connected and take care of yourselves – and others.

#chooseempathy #randomactsofkindness #radicalniceness

Empathy in a Time of Crisis – 4

Team Empathy Journal – Part 4

Continuing our blog about this time of global crisis from the perspective of a voluntary team, taking each day as it comes. Thank you for reading.

It has been almost four weeks of lockdown, of socially distancing and finding ourselves, literally and metaphorically, in a new world. Outside, spring has well and truly arrived. The trees are rich with blossom and leaves, the hedgerows brushed with green and, over the Easter weekend, the sun held the heat of summer. The days are lengthening here in the Northern Hemisphere. It seems at odds with the gravity of the news, of ever increasing numbers of those suffering both illness and loss. Last night, we clapped again for our incredible NHS and carers who are doing so much in this time of crisis. Standing in the evening light, it was incredible to see, to hear the noise of people cheering, waving to each other from their doorways and front gardens, truly empathy in a time of crisis.

Our Team Empathy volunteers have been busy; baking, sharing photos, songs, news, thoughts and prayers. We have heard from our friends in Harare, where there are still concerns for those stranded by the lockdown. This time there was good news, that the street children and young adults have been taken to centres where they are being looked after and well fed. However conditions are very difficult, as many people once again slip through the net of care.

It is difficult to know what might come of this time, of what our lives might look like when it is over. There is deep loss and pain across the whole world. For those who live in poverty and fear – and there are many – the consequences are untold. And yet there is also incredible beauty and connection. It has never been clearer that we are all together. Empathy, connection, cannot be locked down. Perhaps this is what we will hold onto in the weeks that come. Perhaps this is what can emerge. A deep empathy with others will blossom. And from this, the decision to take compassionate actions to help, will spread. It will be all of us together, working towards a better world.

Stay in touch, keep connected and take care of yourselves – and others.

#chooseempathy #randomactsofkindness #radicalniceness

Empathy in a Time of Crisis – 3

Team Empathy Journal – Part Three.

Continuing our blog about this time of global crisis, from the perspective of a voluntary team, and on a more personal level. Thank you for reading.

At the end of our third week in lockdown, we are still baking bread (with mixed results). The photos we share of our endeavours – with the occasional novel ingredient – keep us connected and smiling as flour turns to gold dust across the land. There is something restorative about using our hands and eyes to knead and mould a humble loaf whose goodness comes in stages as we smell its growing warmth, then tap out that sound of readiness, before finally nurturing our loved ones (and ourselves) with a simple lunch. It is a very human and intuitive pursuit, and helps bind us together as we remain physically apart.

At the same time, we are acutely aware of how fortunate we are that we can continue to bake. This week we have been in touch with Annie Emmanuel who runs our partner charity, One Hope, based in Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare. One Hope helps to rescue and rehabilitate vulnerable street boys. The charity supports its work by selling beautiful, beaded products hand made by the young people it cares for.

Annie wrote to tell us this: “The country is in lockdown. For many people the main danger right now is not so much corona, but hunger. In a society where the majority of people live hand to mouth, buying in bulk and stocking up for essentials is not realistic … kids are now ‘locked down’ in streets with soldiers patrolling, and all their usual sources of help and food are cut off.”

From Istanbul we heard more stable news when we caught up (virtually) with Rahaf, Operations Manager of Small Projects Istanbul, who joined us at our Monday meeting to update us on her team’s current situation. She runs and supports the women who comprise the Muhra social enterprise, and who make the bracelets that play a part in our Desperate Journeys simulation.

Previously, these 42 women were housewives in rural areas near Aleppo and Damascus (a few women are from Iraq, Egypt and Palestine). Now, displaced and away from home, each one of them is learning new skills, enabling them to support their families, and thereby gain self-esteem and fellowship. While Turkey is placed under partial lockdown, Rahaf told us that the women and their families are in good spirits, and that Small Projects Istanbul is ensuring that they have enough to eat.

We know that this Easter will be a different kind of celebration, and that for many there will be no celebration at all. Many will be lonely; many will be in hospital; many will feel painful loss or concern for family and friends who are directly (and indirectly) affected by COVID-19. Personal, private tragedies, unconnected to the virus, will also still be suffered.

Meanwhile, all over the world, volunteers are making themselves known to the vulnerable. Hospital workers are giving everything to save people. Businesses and other organisations (big and small) are remodelling operations with unprecedented speed to answer the needs of today’s emergency. Random acts of kindness are ongoing, and wonderful innovations are coming from and being sought in every sphere. And yet others are keeping morale high.

There is a common cause, and a shared knowledge that this crisis will not last forever. There is also an emergent hope that as a result of this critical point for humanity, we will take stock of where we are today, and that kindness, compassion and empathy will prevail – qualities that will prove to be more crucial than ever in the coming months and years.

Our warmest wishes to you all, as you stay at home, this Easter.

Stay in touch, keep connected and take care of yourselves – and others.

#chooseempathy #randomactsofkindness #radicalniceness

Empathy in a Time of Crisis – 2

Team Empathy Journal – Part Two.

We are blogging about this time of global crisis, from the perspective of a voluntary team, and on a more personal level. Thanks for reading!

As we near the end of our second week in lockdown, and as the Covid -19 crisis continues to unfold here in the UK and across the world, at Empathy Action we have been keeping ourselves busy, while remaining socially distant.

It has been a challenging week – the news is grave and the numbers of those affected increase daily. Our empathy and compassion are with those who are suffering and those who are working so valiantly within our amazing NHS and outside to help them.

Sometimes, in our homes, though it is difficult to know what to do, exactly how to help. Jacinda Ardern describes beautifully the importance of our role in this she says: “you may not be at work but that does not mean you don’t have a job. Your job is to save lives, and you can do that by staying home and breaking the chain.” It is important to remember that our very act of remaining at home, following the guidelines issued by the Government, is itself a help. We are protecting not only ourselves but those around us and the NHS.

There are other actions that we can take too, whether it is greeting our neighbours from a socially acceptable distance, smiling as we pass by someone on our daily walk, appreciating the signs of Spring that continue to unfold outside and continuing to practise Radical Kindness. Each one is a positive, a little light to be gleaned from each day.

Yet there are many people who are vulnerable during this crisis. There are those who suddenly have no income or are homeless; those who rely on the help of free school lunches; those whose daily contact has been stopped by the need to stay safe.

Both in Tunbridge Wells and further afield there are a number of initiatives to help

Nourish Community Foodbank continue to accept donations either in the form of food at local supermarkets or online. Check out their Twitter feed and website for up to date information and what is desperately needed.
The Trussell Trust is a nationwide foodbank charity that accepts online donations.
Age UK are using donations to help support older people, especially those isolated by the Covid-19 crisis.
Crisis Homeless charity is delivering essential packages to those without a home.

At Empathy Action we are also seeing the effect of Covid-19 much further afield. Our partners across the world are in isolation, many unable to work and living in communities that are incredibly vulnerable. With our friends in mind it was uplifting to hear that last week the UN launched a global humanitarian appeal to help approximately 40 vulnerable countries who are facing the Covid-19 crisis. While it is not possible at the moment to make individual donations to this appeal, the WHO (World Health Organisation) has a Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund to help support its response to Covid-19 on a global level.

As we face this challenging time together, we hope that the small actions we take in these next weeks, help to increase empathy with those around us and inspire more compassionate action.

Team Empathy News

On Monday we had a quick staff meeting on Zoom, an opportunity to wave at each other and check in!

Other ways our team are staying positive:

‘Walking every day with a few strange manoeuvres when we see people! Like a weird choreography.’

‘Enjoying Springtime together.’

‘I’ve found great comfort in watching the Spring season kick in.’

‘Responding to food bank volunteers – all those people with willing hearts waiting for an opportunity to serve.’

‘Our daily walk is a highlight and how friendly everyone is?’

‘Homemade banana cake.’

‘Finding inspiration from sociable elderly people living on their own, but remaining cheerful and optimistic despite their isolation.’

‘Following online art workshops with friends.’

‘Checking out @goodnews_movement each day!’

‘Making sourdough bread.’

Stay in touch, keep connected and take care of yourselves – and others.

#chooseempathy #randomactsofkindness #radicalniceness

Even the ducks are socially distancing.