Dr. Uttara Vidyasagar, Director, Viveka Trust with a team of counsellors from Viveka, a few ex-members of Mitr along with a couple of able and committed volunteers set up a helpline to reach out to people in distress.
After a series of internal deliberations and creation of suitable infrastructure, the helpline became operational on 2 April 2020 and was open from 9 am to 9 pm, all seven days of the week. Under her able guidance, training for telephonic counselling, debriefing and regular supervision, our team was able to reach out to people of different age groups and profiles from all over the country. We had an 80-year-old lady from Kerala to a 20-year-old youth from Assam seeking help.
Issues presented to us ranged from fear of the pandemic, inability to cope with loneliness, boredom and anger. Some even faced crises in relationships and domestic abuse. People found themselves separated from their family and not knowing when they would be able to meet them. Many were in financial distress with cuts in salaries or loss of jobs. People experienced huge challenges working from home and at home without any help. Some found themselves caught between generations who were all finding it difficult to cope with the new normal.
As the days progressed, concerns changed from those relating exclusively to Covid to other long standing issues. With the lifting of lockdown and the country opening up, people saw some degree of normalcy returning. We decided to close our helpline on 6 May 2020, having been operational for 65 days. Some of the callers continue to need support and have now moved to regular counselling at Viveka.
This extraordinary situation saw extraordinary team work and reach from team VIVEKA!
