They are usually in the news for supporting their favourite football team around the world or their team in the ISL. Very passionate and knowledgeable about the game, these fans clubs in the state have been doing their bit helping those living in isolation due to the virus. These fans are doing what hundreds of volunteers in the state have been doing since the lockdown was imposed. Their help was of great importance when Cyclone Tauktae hit the state over the weekend. Winds at high speed along with rain caused great damage to the state. Trees were uprooted causing disruption to the supply of electricity and telephony. This left hundreds who were isolating at home due to the virus at the mercy of fate.
Conrad Barretto entrepreneur and football fanatic called on his friends in the football community and swung into action. Supporter clubs like the Gaur Army, MUSC GOA, Goan Red Devil’s MUSC, Arsenal Goa, Goa Spurs, Real Madrid Goa, FC Barcelona Supporters Goa and Liverpool FC Goa helped provide food to the poor. Conrad said “We in the football community realised the cyclone would hit those in isolation very hard. We collaborated with the Goa Sikh Association who cooked the food. We picked up food and gave it to the doctors in the South Goa District hospital and then to the homeless and the daily wage earners in Margao who stand near the Margao Municipal garden. While serving them the wind and rain was crazy. It was a tough experience but it had to be done. Everyday we distribute 200 packets. All this started at the lockdown. We started a fundraiser in the football community when the rain started and we are getting help from the New Jersey Goan Association. They are providing us with donations. We and our friends also cook and recently donated milk cream and paneer to the Sikh association”. He said many restaurants in Margao were providing food packets that could number anywhere between 30- 50.
Shruti Chaturvedi has been involved in the efforts to help those suffering from the virus. She has over a period of time managed to attract volunteers to do this very important task. During the cyclone she said everyone one worked through the night. She said “Apart from a 20 minute outage at GMC it was ok at the hospital. Thank god. With regards to helping people it was quite an experience. We were co-ordinating with the electricity department to inform them about the urgent requirement and to also help them by providing them with info. We thankfully got a lot of co-operation from event management companies. They provided us with generators so that the functioning of the oxygen concentrators would not be affected”. Shruti said she and her volunteers received a lot of phone calls from people around Goa requesting help. Due to the paucity of electricity, many volunteers would charge their mobile phones in their cars. In order to save on electricity to would send each other request for help messages along with the address of the patient. It would take a while to go through because the mobile services were also affected. Cylinders were collected and transported. This task was made difficult by the fact that it was a Sunday and the cyclone was still hitting the state. Shruti said she and a colleague personally lifted and transported these heavy cylinders. No one she said slept that night.
Beverly Mendes coordinated efforts in Aldona. She said the volunteers delivered food on that day. Importantly medicines were delivered by the pharmacy in Aldona. She said Savio Figuerado kept it open despite the heavy rains and ensured medication went to all those who required it. She said “Aldona is a green zone so a lot of trees fell and disrupted the supply of electricity but people helped out. The volunteers were just great. Volunteers even went to Panjim where some houses had electricity and charged their phones. Like I said people were on call 24 hours. It was a horrible day but we helped as many people as we could that day”.
The cyclone cause trees to be uprooted and some fell on houses causing damage. Ankit Chaudhury who has hotels in Morjim and Ashwem offered his properties to anyone whose house had been damaged during the cyclone. He said “Last year we offered our rooms to doctors and nurses who would be working long hours. Many could have faced problems in their colonies and we offered our facilities. After I gave out that call may other properties made a similar offer. I saw all the crazy videos uploaded about the cyclone. We answered a call from a lady in Arambol whose dog shelter had suffered damage. Since we are also pet friendly, we were ready to take them in. They were welcome to stay till the storm settled but they found some arrangement locally and stayed put”.
Another volunteer talked about a doctor who would go around meeting senior citizens in Asilo and check on them. This he would do after he completed his shift at his place of work. The volunteer said no doctor was willing to do house calls and they were happy to have found a guardian angel. There are many like this doctor who are going around quietly offering help.
One can only say thank you to these silent Samaritans who are doing great work helping those who have need help.
