Society
Why Christmas can be a time of work
Reading Time: 5 minutesTheres no doubt that the web and the growing roster of gadgets that use it have helped to create the always-on, 24/7 world of the 21st Century.
There’s no doubt that the web and the growing roster of gadgets that use it have helped to create the always-on, 24/7 world of the 21st Century.
What that means is that, no matter the day or hour, some people have to be on a phone line, in a chat room or laying down the infrastructure to keep the data flowing. Rather than kicking back these folk will have to keep the power on during the break.
Christmas on a cable ship
Lee Waghorn is a hydrographic surveyor working for submarine cable consultancy Pelagian. He is currently on a cable ship off the cost of Banjul, Gambia.
Cable ships typically cost about £50,000 per day to run so work cannot halt for public holidays. Surveying and cable laying goes on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
As a result, said Mr Waghorn, Christmas day is like any other.
"A typical Christmas day consists of going about the normal daily tasks of marine data collection: mapping the seabed with echo sounders and scanning sonar to determine the composition and ruggedness of the seabed terrain. This data is used to determine the safest route for the submarine cable."
"Daily meetings are held to discuss the project and then there’s all the paperwork to tackle for the day," he said.
Given the workload, food and entertainment are important to maintain morale of the 30-strong crew that is made up of many different nationalities including English, French, Italian, American, Indonesian, Filipino, Chinese and Hong Kong Chinese workers.
"The galley staff work their hardest at this time, preparing a good variety of food. Christmas dinner here is usually cooked on a spit roast on the deck in the warmer climates, and with continuous working we try and get as many people to dine at the same time as we can."
"The crews are generally a mixture of nationalities, which could consist of various religious beliefs as well. But everyone enjoys the occasion as it feels more like a big barbecue party than Christmas."
For Mr Waghorn, the Christmas meal is likely to be goat rather than turkey but toasts are likely to be raised to the framed picture of the Queen found in the mess room of every British cable ship.
Sadly, he said, the Christmas celebrations do not last long. The demanding schedule of ship-board life means no time for a post-prandial nap.
"Once the food has been eaten, everyone will continue to go about their normal daily duties to keep the project running smoothly," he said.
Getting the gadgets going
Gadgets are likely to feature heavily in Christmas stockings this year and many people may struggle to get them working after they are unboxed. Fran Sorci is an agent for Geek Squad who will be helping those who get the gift of gadgets get them working during the festive season.
It’s common, he said, for those that get a gadget to really struggle when it comes to getting it working.
"They might have hinted to relatives about a gadget they have just seen and think is really cool," he said. "Then they are stuck trying to work out how to actually use it."
Older people are much more likely to ask for help, said Agent Sorci.
"Kids just sit down and play with the gadget then, if it breaks, they work out how to fix it," he said. "That’s just how they’re brought up these days."
"The parents will be more wary about breaking it, they try and work it out much more slowly," he added.
And, he added, the more expensive a gadget is, the more likely parents are to take charge when it comes to wiring it up.
What also trips many people up is that few devices, be they consoles or cameras, stand alone anymore. Many have to be connected to a wi-fi network, hooked up to a TV or accessed by a computer. It’s only toys, he said, that maintain a lordly isolation.
At this time of year, he said, cables cause all kinds of problems. Usually because people lack the right one or cannot find where to plug it in.
Some of the best call outs, he said, are for people who have bought or been given gadgets that help them keep in touch at Christmas.
"A few times I’ve set up new e-mail and Skype accounts for people if they have been given webcams and they want to use them to speak to long-distance relatives at Christmas," he said.
Although in cases like this, he said gadgets are undoubtedly a boon they often do nothing but add to the stress of the Christmas season.
"A simple gift can turn into a nightmare," he said.
Playing and talking
While many will spend time with family this Christmas lots of people are likely to go online on 25 December to keep up with the virtual friends they have made on social networks and in games.
One person who will be answering the queries of some of those folk who are online is "Dani", a moderator and project team leader at Emoderation, which provides staff for those online forums, games and chat rooms for firms as diverse as ESPN, the GLA and Smirnoff.
"I’ll be on duty all day," said Dani, who asked to conceal her full name. Dani works from home but that means, even on Christmas day, that she is never far away from the computer she uses to watch over forums and stay in touch with colleagues.
She will get a couple of hours free for Christmas lunch but will have no time to linger to catch the Queen’s speech.
"It’s quite important that we are here," she said. "You never know if people are going to come on and ask questions."
Working at home has its perils, she said, as one year she had to cope after a colleague set a tea towel on fire while making the Christmas dinner.
She also remains philosophical about the fact that some of the people she and her colleagues will be helping with might be rather too full of Christmas cheer. "It’s all part of the job," she said.
Playing the day away
Finally, while some are working on Christmas many dedicated gamers will be playing on the day. Including Andy Amos, one of the officers of the World of Warcraft (WoW) Revolution guild.
Mr Amos said Revolution counts itself as a "casual" guild so its roster of raiding and other in-game activities is not as full as other more dedicated groups.
"Despite this," he said. "with it being a national holiday we tend to have more people online over this time, and with the recent release of Cataclysm our online numbers will be higher still."
Cataclysm is the latest expansion for WoW that sees the warcraft world ripped up by the emergence of the dragon Deathwing.
"Being strictly an over 18 guild a lot of our members will have full time jobs and don’t live with their parents, and as a result getting large groups together to raid is usually tricky, what with Christmas parties, Christmas shopping and visiting relatives," he said.
The Cataclysm expansion has triggered a fresh round of character creation, he said, so few of the characters people play are a high enough level to go on raids just yet. Raids involve getting lots of people together to tackle the toughest in-game enemies for the best loot.
As a result, he said, time over the holidays is likely to be spent getting the gear so everyone is well prepared for raids in the New Year.
"Overall Christmas will be about enjoying the game with good people, good banter, and at a decent standard – pretty much the same as every day in Revolution, just with a few mince pies thrown in."
Society
“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees
At the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In one corner of the room there is a logistics planning meeting, someone has a call on Zoom with partners and donors, someone else finally managed to take a cookie and make some coffee. Everyone is exhausted and have sleepy red eyes, but the volunteers still have a lot of energy and dedication to help in creating a safe place for the Ukrainian refugees.
“It’s like a continuous bustle just so you won’t read the news. You get home sometimes and you don’t have time for news, and that somehow helps. It’s a kind of solidarity and mutual support,” says Vlada Ciobanu, volunteer responsible for communication and fundraising.
The volunteers group was formed from the very first day of war. A Facebook page was created, where all types of messages immediately started to flow: “I offer accommodation”, “I want to help”, “I want to get involved”, “Where can I bring the products?”, “I have a car and I can go to the customs”. Soon, the authorities also started asking for volunteers’ support. Now they all work together, coordinate activities and try to find solutions to the most difficult problems.
Is accommodation needed for 10, 200 or 800 people? Do you need transportation to the customs? Does anyone want to deliver 3 tons of apples and does not know where? Do you need medicine or mobile toilets? All these questions require prompt answers and actions. Blankets, sheets, diapers, hygiene products, food, clothes – people bring everything, and someone needs to quickly find ways of delivering them to those who need them.
Sometimes this collaboration is difficult, involves a lot of bureaucracy, and it can be difficult to get answers on time. “Republic of Moldova has never faced such a large influx of refugees and, probably because nobody thought this could happen, a mechanism of this kind of crisis has not been developed. Due to the absence of such a mechanism that the state should have created, we, the volunteers, intervened and tried to help in a practical way for the spontaneous and on the sport solutions of the problems,” mentions Ecaterina Luțișina, volunteer responsible for the refugees’ accommodation.
Ana Maria Popa, one of the founders of the group “Help Ukrainians in Moldova/SOS Українці Молдовa” says that the toughest thing is to find time and have a clear mind in managing different procedures, although things still happen somehow naturally. Everyone is ready to intervene and help, to take on more responsibilities and to act immediately when needed. The biggest challenges arise when it is necessary to accommodate large families, people with special needs, for which alternative solutions must be identified.
Goods and donations
The volunteers try to cope with the high flow of requests for both accommodation and products of all kinds. “It came to me as a shock and a panic when I found out that both mothers who are now in Ukraine, as well as those who found refuge in our country are losing their milk because of stress. We are trying to fill an enormous need for milk powder, for which the demand is high and the stocks are decreasing”, says Steliana, the volunteer responsible for the distribution of goods from the donation centers.
Several centers have been set up to collect donations in all regions of Chisinau, and volunteers are redirecting the goods to where the refugees are. A system for processing and monitoring donations has already been established, while the volunteer drivers take over the order only according to a unique code.
Volunteers from the collection centers also do the inventory – the donated goods and the distributed goods. The rest is transported to Vatra deposit, from where it is distributed to the placement centers where more than 50 refugees are housed.
When they want to donate goods, but they don’t know what would be needed, people are urged to put themselves in the position of refugees and ask themselves what would they need most if they wake up overnight and have to hurriedly pack their bags and run away. Steliana wants to emphasise that “these people are not needy, but these people need help. They did not choose to end up in this situation.”
Furthermore, the volunteer Cristina Sîrbu seeks to identify producers and negotiate prices for products needed by refugees, thus mediating the procurement process for NGOs with which she collaborates, such as Caritas, World Children’s Fund, Polish Solidarity Fund, Lifting hands, Peace Corps and others.
One of the challenges she is facing now is the identifying a mattress manufacturer in the West, because the Moldovan mattress manufacturer that has been helping so far no longer has polyurethane, a raw material usually imported from Russia and Ukraine.
Cristina also needs to find solutions for the needs of the volunteer groups – phones, laptops, gsm connection and internet for a good carrying out of activities.
Hate messages
The most difficult thing for the communication team is to manage the hate messages on the social networks, which started to appear more often. “Even if there is some sort of dissatisfaction from the Ukrainian refugees and those who offer help, we live now in a very diverse society, there are different kind of people, and we act very differently under stress,” said Vlada Ciobanu.
Translation by Cătălina Bîrsanu
Important
#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression
The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against the Russian aggression. In a digital world – it is an interactive map of public support of Ukrainians under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.”
„Today, along with the political and military support, emotional connection with the civilized world and truthful information are extremely important for Ukraine. The power to do it is in your hands. Join the #WorldForUkraine project and contribute to the victorious battle against the bloodshed inflicted on Ukraine by the aggression of the Russian Federation”, says the „about the project” section of the platform.
Go to the streets — Tell people — Connect and Unite — Become POWERFUL
Volunteers have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression. In digital world – it is an INTERACTIVE MAP of public support of Ukrainians worldforukraine.net under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.” There you may find information about past and future rallies in your city in support of Ukraine. This is a permanent platform for Ukrainian diaspora and people all over the world concerned about the situation in Ukraine.
So here’s a couple of things you could do yourself to help:
* if there is a political rally in your city, then participate in it and write about it on social media with geolocation and the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
* if there are no rallies nearby, organize one in support of Ukraine yourself, write about it on social media with geolocation adding the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
The map will add information about gathering by #WorldForUkraine AUTOMATICALLY
Your voice now stronger THAN ever
All rallies are already here: https://worldforukraine.net
Important
How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained
From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of Moldova. 33 173 of them left the country. As of this moment, there are 38 186 Ukrainian citizens in Moldova, who have arrived over the past 100 hours.
The Moldovan people and authorities have organized themselves quickly from the first day of war between Russia and Ukraine. However, in the event of a prolonged armed conflict and a continuous influx of Ukrainian refugees, the efforts and donations need to be efficiently managed. Thus, we inquired about Moldova’s long-term plan and the state’s capacity to receive, host, and treat a bigger number of refugees.
On February 26th, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Moldova approved the Regulation of organization and functioning of the temporary Placement Center for refugees and the staffing and expenditure rules. According to the Regulation, the Centers will have the capacity of temporary hosting and feeding at least 20 persons, for a maximum of 3 months, with the possibility of extending this period. The Centers will also offer legal, social, psychological, and primary medical consultations to the refugees. The Center’s activity will be financed from budget allocations, under Article 19 of Provision no. 1 of the Exceptional Situations Commission from February 24th, 2022, and from other sources of funding that do not contravene applicable law.
The Ministry of Inner Affairs and the Government of Moldova facilitated the organization of the volunteers’ group “Moldova for Peace”. Its purpose is to receive, offer assistance and accommodation to the Ukrainian refugees. The group is still working on creating a structure, registering and contacting volunteers, etc. It does not activate under a legal umbrella.
Lilia Nenescu, one of the “Moldova for Peace” volunteers, said that the group consists of over 20 people. Other 1700 registered to volunteer by filling in this form, which is still available. The group consists of several departments:
The volunteers’ department. Its members act as fixers: they’re responsible for connecting the people in need of assistance with the appropriate department. Some of the volunteers are located in the customs points. “The Ministry of Inner Affairs sends us every day the list of the customs points where our assistance is needed, and we mobilize the volunteers”, says Lilia Nenescu.
The Goods Department manages all the goods donated by the Moldavian citizens. The donations are separated into categories: non-perishable foods and non-food supplies. The volunteers of this department sort the goods into packages to be distributed.
The Government intends to collect all the donations in four locations. The National Agency for Food Safety and the National Agency for Public Health will ensure mechanisms to confirm that all the deposited goods comply with safety and quality regulations.
The Service Department operates in 4 directions and needs the volunteer involvement of specialists in psychology, legal assistance (the majority of the refugees only have Ukrainian ID and birth certificates of their children); medical assistance; translation (a part of the refugees are not Ukrainian citizens).
According to Elena Mudrîi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, so far there is no data about the number of Covid-19 positive refugees. She only mentioned two cases that needed outpatient medical assistance: a pregnant woman and the mother of a 4-day-old child.
The Accommodation Department. The volunteers are waiting for the centralized and updated information from the Ministry of Labor about the institutions offering accommodation, besides the houses offered by individuals.
The Transport Department consists of drivers organized in groups. They receive notifications about the number of people who need transportation from the customs points to the asylum centers for refugees.
The municipal authorities of Chișinău announced that the Ukrainian children refugees from the capital city will be enrolled in educational institutions. The authorities also intend to create Day-Care Centers for children, where they will be engaged in educational activities and will receive psychological assistance. Besides, the refugees from the municipal temporary accommodation centers receive individual and group counseling.
In addition to this effort, a group of volunteers consisting of Ana Gurău, Ana Popapa, and Andrei Lutenco developed, with the help of Cristian Coșneanu, the UArefugees platform, synchronized with the responses from this form. On the first day, 943 people offered their help using the form, and 110 people asked for help. According to Anna Gurău, the volunteers communicate with the Government in order to update the platform with the missing data.
Translation from Romanian by Natalia Graur
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