Page 7 - Communities Respond to COVID-19
P. 7
trust...... There was a fire down the road at a neighbors and most of went down to help put it out before
the fire dept and all got there. Unfortunately one if our community members died from a heart attack.
There was a lot of police, emt's, fire hot shots so we did get exposed to 20 to 30 people, so far so good
except for of course loosing a wonderful person and one of the best community members.
Don Clark
Chambalabamba, Loja, Ecuador
We have 33 people trapped in paradise, 9 of which are volunteers from many countries. We are
enjoying it immensely. We are quarantine, so no one is permitted to come here during this time. We
have rentals, so we are not making any money with this. Everyone gets along nicely. Everyone works in
the mornings or more to maintain and improve the community. We have a number of projects:
gardening, fruit trees, building a trout pond, spirulina production, a carpentry for manufacturing things,
making videos, children's space for learning, etc. We also gather for workshops, meditation, yoga,
campfires, shows we put on for ourselves. This coming week we will focus on games and activities to
promote deeper connections. Some of us are working hard on a project to help make a better world:
utopiacornucopia.org. Everyday we have lunch together in the maloka.
Tom Charles Osher
Muir Commons Cohousing, Davis, California
At the very beginning of the Corona Crisis, a Safety and Health ad-hoc Committee formed, and came up
with some guidelines for the community. We met via Zoom, and agreed to basic precepts, such as no
meals and no use of the Common House except for essential activities such as laundry, to avoid possible
Corona contamination.
Basically, we're sheltering in place in our homes, going outside only for exercise and essential activities
such as medical appointments and grocery shopping. We're communicating both for meetings and for
social events through Zoom, but see each other occasionally on the walkways as we get our mail, and
can chat from an appropriate distance. So far, I think people in the community are doing okay, given the
strange times we're in.
Laurie Friedman
Unnamed community school, Texas, USA
Because the focus of the community is the school, and school is out for the rest of the semester, it has
had a bit of an impact.
A handful of us have ""essential"" jobs and have continued to work. Many of us who have been staying
home are catching up on long neglected projects. It's actually been great for us, the garden hasn't
looked so good in years!
We have been practicing social distancing but that is starting to relax, there have been fewer large
community activities. Monthly meetings are outside with plenty of room for distancing and some check
in via skype.