Chhatak’s unwavering youths stand by community
They do not get much acknowledgement for what they have been doing for the community, but they are true heroes of the time.
These unsung heroes have been working relentlessly to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak in rural villages of Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj.
The village volunteers have been working hand in hand with the upazila administration in their fight against the pandemic since early April.
They are monitoring the whereabouts of infected and suspected Covid-19 patients and assisting people in receiving necessary medical treatment. When close relatives are not even willing to witness the burial of a person who died of the disease, these volunteers are there to give the person a proper burial.
Most importantly, they have been working with their community to create awareness about how the virus spreads from person to person and what preventive measures are necessary to contain it.
Since April, a total of 194 volunteers including five women have been working as volunteers in Chhatak upazila.
Till date, five of them have been infected with Covid-19. One of them, Mohammad J Alam, from Ganeshpur Noagaon village in the upazila, has already expressed his willingness to rejoin the work as he has made full recovery recently.
He was tested positive for Covid-19 on May 25 and his second test report came out negative on June 11.
"After seeing a Facebook post made by the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), and after seeing numerous [news] reports that people [infected with the virus] are being victims of neglect in many ways, while some of them are not even getting proper burial after death, I decided to become a volunteer to serve my community," Alam said.
"I helped bury the body of the first Covid-19 victim in the upazila. I went to the farthest village in the upazila on the border and brought from there a number of suspected patients to the hospital. Since I've been tested negative, I would like to start my voluntary work again."
Volunteers Kamrul Ahmed and his brother Fayez Marzan, from Jauwa village of the upazila, were also infected with the virus during their work.
"My college-going brother and I started volunteering for the upazila administration following a short training in early April," Kamrul said.
"After I took part in the burial of a person who died of Covid-19, I got myself tested out of suspicion and tested positive on June 1. My brother also tested positive on June 4.
"We both are now in isolation. We hope to recover soon and resume our volunteering," the youth said with confidence.
Chhatak is the worst virus-hit upazila in Sunamganj and till Sunday, 145 persons were found to be infected with Covid-19 there.
Chhatak UNO Golam Kabir said, "Rural people are mostly unaware of such pandemic situation. Misconceptions as well as virus spread here easily. So, we needed volunteers to help us fight the spread of the virus. After my call for volunteers, I was overwhelmed with the huge response."
"People from other districts swarmed the upazila after the nationwide shutdown. The volunteers here are helping build awareness, ensure quarantine and isolation, and locate suspected patients. They are even burying the dead.
"After the pandemic, they may not get fitting appreciation for their work. But they are playing a very important role during the fight of government authorities and local representatives against the pandemic," the UNO added.