Life before and after COVID-19

Unfortunately, the year 2020 started with the saddest news. Literally every day since the beginning of the year we get more and more horrific news about the virus, news about ongoing infections, and unfortunately, about deaths from COVID19. All friendly feasts, business meetings, conversations on romantic dates necessarily began with a discussion of the latest data on the situation with the coronavirus, becoming a parable in languages. This global problem has shocked everyone, including me.
My name is Chingiz-khan, I’m 28 years old, and I work at a bank. Every day I was like the last one. So to speak, I’ve been living Groundhog Day for the last five years. Many times I promised myself to change – I thought that I would work for one more year, and time flew by unnoticed and for the 5th year I am a bank employee. At the end of March, a state of emergency was declared in Kyrgyzstan and all of us were sent home, it is necessary to isolate ourselves and try not to contact a large number of people. Honestly, at the beginning I have lost – what to do with a lot of free time. Well, we’re living in a digital age and we’re getting plenty of information. One day “hanging out” on the Internet, I came across an ad of the Red Crescent of Kyrgyzstan, which said about recruiting volunteers to help during COVID19. I had never done anything like this before and had little understanding of why volunteering was necessary. But I decided to try myself in volunteering, because now, at such a difficult time, not only for our country, but also for the world, any support is necessary and important. After filling out the application form, I received online training and was ready to help.
In the first days of volunteering, I was impressed by the atmosphere of the Red Crescent. An atmosphere of unity and kindness, understanding and protection. Together with the other volunteers, we quickly got to know each other and became almost a family. Every day we sorted out grocery sets for the needy, shipped food, and worked on recipient lists. In general, everyone was busy doing their own thing. For the first time, I realized that we had a lot of vulnerable groups. To be honest, there were tears at the sight of elderly people or a mother with many children, who were waiting for our support. I admired the bravery and courage of the other guys who sacrifice their time and even their health to help, give a little warmth and kindness. My life isn’t going to be the same anymore because in a way, I was selfish and thought only of myself. Now everything is different, I realized how important and necessary it is to help each other, to support each other. And the most important thing is to be useful, and to do good things for the benefit of those who are in great need. I loved this organization with all my heart, and you know, I came out of the comfort zone, I gave myself a chance to change. I am grateful for this situation, because my life will no longer be the same. I would call on everyone not to stand aside and join the volunteer team because we are a power.