Sadeq Hosseini, Farbod Khalili: As of the filming of this report, three months have passed since the coronavirus outbreak went from a news story on TV to an everyday reality for Iranians. Schools were closed, businesses shut and people sent home self-quarantining. In the meantime, while urban life as we all knew it, was almost put on hold, there were still some people who were busy working. Not for money. But for kindness and compassion. Thousands of Iranians volunteered to help their fellow citizens and provided these services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Production and distribution of face masks and other protective gears
\nDisinfection of public places and cars
\nDistribution of essential food supplies and cash handouts
\nVolunteering at hospitals and other medical facilities <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the early days of the corona covid19 pandemic, the Shokoufeha Charity for children with autism, In one of the Tehran\u2019s eastern neighborhoods halted most of its activities and instead had these volunteers prepare and distribute for free sanitary packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behrouz Khosravan CEO of Shokoufeh Charity for Autistic Children said: \u201cThe Charity was founded in 2017. It has taken 70 kids under its wings, providing them with food parcels and medicine. 30 kids receive monthly pensions while we provide rehabilitation services to 45 kids at the charity\u2019s central branch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director of Shokoufeh Charity added: \u201cThe activities of the rehabilitation center were halted soon after the start of the outbreak. Therefore, our psychotherapists and occupational therapists provided families of the autistic kids with educational content online. We also prepared sanitary packages and distributed them among the families. We have managed to distribute over 80 thousand packs among supported families and across the city.\u201d
\nHaniyeh Abbasi is social worker in Shokoufeh Charity for Autistic Children said: \u201cIn early February 2020, after the outbreak, the charity decided to prepare and distribute sanitary packages that include a face mask, gloves and a hand sanitizer gel among the needy to help lighten the load for hospital staff and officials alike. We hope the recipients of these packages can use them in good health. We also gave these packages to the families of autistic children under the charity\u2019s protection since most of them are financially challenged. So we decided we could prepare these packages with the help of donors to lighten the load for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanieh mention that: \u201cAfter outbreak we started to reduce the number of the classes and instead offered online sessions. We also pay their families some cash handouts every month to help them with their medical and other daily expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retired teacher who is member of Charity member also said: \u201cWhoever has to deal with autistic children inevitably becomes kind and compassionate. Therefore, all these people here have been doing voluntary work without ever once complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firouzgar Hospital has been one of the main coronavirus treatment centers in Tehran, and also where Meysam Ameri was working voluntarily until he contracted the disease.
\nMeysam Ameri is a 35-year old graphic designer working out of his home studio in north of Tehran. Since the early days of the outbreak, He began his voluntary work by handing out free face masks and gloves in Tehran subway, and disinfecting the Grand Bazaar.
\nIn early April 2020, he volunteered to help the fight against coronavirus at Firouzgar hospital where he finally contracted the disease 20 days later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meysam recounted his story of joining Firouzgar Hospital:
\nIt was 25 of us, men and women, who joined the hospital as the first volunteer group. We had an agreement to take care of all the things left unfinished after receiving initial training. For a while, we only did office work and disinfected the exteriors until we gained the trust of the hospital staff, and were then allowed in the Coronavirus ward after receiving appropriate training.
\nAside from carrying out duties like taking test samples to the lab, and taking the results back, and going with patients to get CT Scans, we – as caregivers- also helped the patients getting to, using the toilet or changing their diapers.
\nWe would form emotional bonds with patients to make their hospital experience and their battle with the disease more bearable. We would also help patients video call their family members. Other creative things we would do include giving them haircuts and even massage! We would also make fresh fruit juice. It was a favorite with patients and the medical staff alike!
\nWe were later received training for some more technical nursing tasks like taking blood pressure and body temperature, and reading a pulse oximeter that monitors oxygen levels in the patients\u2019 blood.
\nAbout 80 other caregivers joined us in the meantime. Still anyone who desired could leave. So on my last day at the hospital, there were about 20 of us volunteers there.
\nOne other interesting thing we did was to throw a surprise birthday party for one of the nurses whose wedding had been cancelled due to the pandemic. We also held a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of Imam Mahdi on Mid-Sha\u2019ban. Just like our other expenses like the cost of gowns and face masks, the cost of holding the event was paid through donations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meysam told us the hospital work was heavy and stressful. He would start working after performing his prayers at dawn, and would not go to bed until well after midnight. He believes his extreme physical fatigue contributed to his disease: One night, after twenty something days at the hospital, I realized I had a temperature and I was breathing heavily. At first, I thought it was just fatigue from working long hours. I went to the emergency department and underwent a CT scan just to realize my lungs were affected. I stayed there for three days until I could breathe easier. Then I spent 20 more days at home self-quarantining.
Coughing was not one of the symptoms. Instead, the symptoms were a high fever, and severe muscle and chest pains. Three weeks after the quarantine, my breaths are still short and heavy.
But none of these pains hurt Meysam as much as the pain of not seeing his family, he mentioned: I could not see any of my family members for 45 days, from the night I was admitted to hospital to the last day of my quarantine. I have a 9-month old son and a 5-year old daughter. My son had started crawling and grown his first teeth when I got to meet him again. Separation from my wife, kids and parents was my toughest experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n