COVID-19 pandemic has thrown life out of gear across the globe but every cloud has a silver lining. The health crisis has brought out heroes who have not only made unwavering efforts to tackle the virus but also shown the bright side of humanity.
Swayamprabha Jena, an Anganwadi worker of Jamal Basti in Jobra, Cuttack, is one such warrior. She suffered the personal tragedy of losing her mother to Covid-19 and was also thrown out by her own family for ‘bringing the virus home’ but that could not deter her from the battle against the virus. She fought the odds and found a way to serve people.
After the coronavirus outbreak, Swayamprabha’s Anganwadi centre functioning from Jobra Urdu Primary School was closed down and she was engaged in Covid surveillance in the slum which is home to 197 households comprising 1,060 people. She was in charge of door-to-door screening, measuring pulse and oxygen saturation of people,
recording their travel history, tracing contacts of positive cases, and distributing medicines to Covid patients undergoing home isolation.
Swayamprabha is married to an insurance agent in Jagatpur but shifted to her paternal house at Jobra Nuasahi along with her two-year-old son in March so that she could perform Covid duty. Prior to the outbreak, she used to commute from Jagatpur every day. Her relocation, however, was not welcome by her family. “You will bring the disease home”, they warned her.
Her family’s exasperation, though, did not stop her from performing her duties. Every day, she would start from home at 7 am and walk three km distributing supplements to children and pregnant women, creating awareness on Covid and helping the health officials with active community surveillance. What made things easier for her was leaving her son behind in the care of her 55-year-old mother Rashmirekha Jena.
However, hell broke loose when Rashmirekha was infected by the virus in August. She succumbed to the infection on September 9 after undergoing treatment for 23 days. Her family not only blamed Swayamprabha but also asked her to move out. Not finding a place to stay, the 28-year-old woman was forced to move back to her in-laws' place at Jagatpur.
But she overcame the adversities and joined work immediately after her mother’s death to contribute to the local administration’s efforts in flattening the Covid graph.
Today, she leaves her son with her mother-in-law and commutes from Jagatpur to Cuttack every day. “What happened was destiny. I had to get over my tragedy and help others in staying safe from the virus”, she says.
There are no fixed duty hours for her but she ensures that she adheres to all safety norms while on duty and sanitises before returning home. “Before entering the home, I clean myself in a bathroom outside our house. Since I am nursing my son, I remain extra careful”, says Swayamprabha.
At the work-front, she often is refused entry into houses by women who fear infection but that does not frustrate her. “They are scared of the prevailing situation and I would not blame them”, she says.
Caution, the Anganwadi worker says, is the only solution now. She advises people in the slum to wear masks, avoid crowded places, and maintain social distancing. Is she scared about the circumstances she works in? No, she firmly replies. “If the doctors and nurses can leave their families and work day and night, why can’t we”, she says.