*[Enwl-eng] A round of European applause

[ENWL]

Francesca* is a doctor from Bologna. For the last few weeks her life has been turned upside-down by the coronavirus. She is at the hospital working 15 hour shifts every day, risking contagion. For weeks she has been far away from her children, who have been at their grandparents’ house in another region in Italy. 

She is on the front line responding to a virus that wasn’t in her vocabulary, or anyone’s, until December 2019 at the earliest. At best, Italy is about 9 days ahead of the rest of Europe. [1]

Without the efforts of Francesca and her colleagues across the continent, we clearly wouldn’t stand a fighting chance against this virus. They are a beacon of hope and humanity in this moment that has shaken our sense of normalcy.

So let's join forces to thank Francesca and all her incredible colleagues across Europe.

Our ask is simple. This Friday at noon, go to your door, or window, or balcony and clap, shout, sing, bang pots, ring bells. We want to make lots of noise to show our appreciation for all those incredible health workers, without whom we would not have a fighting chance. 

We’ve already seen this applause action happening in Italy, Spain, France and Portugal. But for a virus that knows no borders, neither should our solidarity. 

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Daniele, a doctor from Bergamo, talks about his colleagues, “who despite their already exhausting workloads, had never known such levels of fatigue. […] There are no shifts anymore, no semblance of hours. [...]

Doctors [are] moving beds and moving patients, nurses with tears in their eyes because we can’t save everyone and because the vital signs of those who are most sick reveal an already sealed destiny.“ [2] 

He does not consider himself and his colleagues to be heroes -- they are just doing their jobs. 

Let's give them a round of applause that can be heard from from Porto to Sofia - let's give Europe’s health service professionals a truly cross-border European thank you.

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Don’t forget to spread the word! Share this email, share the event page on FB, send out a message to your Whatsapp contacts, or put a note through your neighbour's postbox!

With hope,

Olga (Bologna), Laura (Brussels), Mika (Bordeaux) and the whole WeMove Europe team

PS On Friday, don’t forget to share pictures and videos of the action on social media and tag @wemoveEU in your post!

PPS On a final note: this situation didn’t just happen. Part of the reason health workers are struggling is that public services have been underfunded for years. The banks got bailed out, whilst the hospitals got drained of their lifeblood. Europe was once proud of its social model but now, in our would be 'developed countries', we are not managing to respond to health crises, not even to give free healthcare to those who need it in many countries. All of this can change. We are working on campaign strategies to do that right now, so keep an eye out for more! 

*Her name has been changed to protect her identity

References:
[1] https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
[2] https://www.facebook.com/daniele.macchini.52/posts/3395152210500625

WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere. WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy

 


From: Olga - WeMove.EU 
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 3:49 PM
Subject: A round of European applause


 
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