Solidarity in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic

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UN and JICA Bhutan’s joint initiative - Resilience tools for COVID-19

Solidarity in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic

No crisis has ever crippled the whole world in our lifetime the way that COVID-19 has. The pandemic has cost the wellbeing of humanity, wreaked economic havoc, caused physical and mental distress, deprived children of education and learning and made day to day living one of survival. However, some have seen another side to this pandemic.

“…For me, I've witnessed like no other time, such an endearing and touching solidarity from the people of all walks of life. Be it a public servant, a corporate employee, a private citizen, a farmer or a taxi driver, every Bhutanese - young or old, child or parent-  rose to the occasion!” commented Tharchen, the CEO and founder of iBEST Studios, a training institution and consulting firm based in Thimphu.

Tharchen further shared, “I clearly remember the beginning of 2020, as news of the outbreak of COVID-19 engulfed the world. There was lots of fear, confusion, and uncertainty overwhelming us. In the midst of all this chaos, our first COVID-19 patient was detected on 6th March 2020 and gripped the whole country. Thereafter, the way we used to go about our daily lives forever changed, overnight.”

Schools closed in March last year. Students suddenly had to learn online and teachers and schools alike had a tough time figuring out how to delivering effective classes remotely. During this time, when the Ministry of Education and the whole teaching fraternity were trying to find new ways to educate children, the team at iBEST STUDIOS volunteered to provide a helping hand to enable an alternative learning platform. In collaboration with the VTOB (Volunteer Teachers of Bhutan) spearheaded by the collaboration of the Ministry of Education and the Royal Education Council, the iBEST team started developing educational content using new multimedia services almost entirely pro-bono.

 Tharchen, who was heavily involved in this activity, was happy to provide this support, “We were so overjoyed that the E-learning lessons broadcasted through the BBS TV and uploaded on YouTube, immensely benefited our students and eased the pressure on our teachers and parents alike.”

For four months, the iBEST Studios team helped to produce more than 400 instructional video lessons. During the COVID-19 period, besides helping to produce these E-learning video lessons, iBEST collaborated with numerous stakeholders like VTOB, Drukyul Literature Festival and Booknese to initiate new reading and writing avenues to engage young minds further.

Then when the first-ever nationwide lockdown happened in August last year, the team volunteered to provide their services to tackle one of biggest threats during the pandemic –  fake news. To support the government and relevant institutions to provide timely, accurate and effectively improve the awareness of COVID-19 to the larger populace, the team members worked day in and day out, for over 21 days.

“Our team was stationed at the office during the entire lockdown period. We could hardly get 4-5 hours of sleep because of the urgency to complete the audio-visual content and the need to reach out to the public. So, in the 21 days of the first lockdown, we managed to develop around 12 educational and advocacy videos for the Ministry of Health and COVID-19 Task Force besides numerous illustration and design works,” shared Tharchen.

The team also collaborated with singers and social media influencers who came together to entertain via an online platform called ‘Zhimoen’.

Other initiatives of the firm included folktale animations, illustrated designs and MTV videos. One of the biggest initiatives launched was "Dragon Tales – Stories for Children" so that children could get free access to educational content online.

“When we look back now, we feel enormously satisfied and content that we were of some help and service to our country, when needed the most. Like our firm and team members at the iBEST Studios, countless individuals and organizations have come together to do their part and so much more. As an individual, I take huge pride in my fellow citizens that we have united in solidarity to rise above adversity and respond to the call of duty,” concluded Tharchen.