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2021-02-11
Oral Histories and Archiving
Looking through the oral history section of JOTPY, I noticed a few recordings of interviews. This got me thinking about oral history and its similarities to journalism and the work journalists do. I then started thinking about how journalists and historical societies could work together to keep oral histories and newspapers. Could there be a way for journalists to get the correct permission from their interviewees to have their recorded interviews be put into the historical society of the area where they’re working? I was thinking of my time at a small-town newspaper in a rural area. What if my interviews with the local people and the local government officials who aren’t necessarily big-names were put into the archive to help fill the space? Could these interviews help provide a bigger picture of the town and the way it worked during this timeframe? Could they fill a “silence” these historical societies and their archives have? I also recorded town hall meetings and school board meetings almost every week. These meetings are recorded, but often in written form by a secretary. I was recording these events via phone/recording device (actual audio). The work I was doing (the work a journalist does) offers another medium for the archive. I think this would be an interesting interdisciplinary project, especially within rural areas. And what about now? The move towards online meetings and discussion due to the pandemic allows more accessibility to these board meetings or interviews. But are they being archived at the local level? Private meetings are a bit iffy on permissions and accessibilities, but what about those meetings open to the public? Are they being recorded and then placed where others can access it, and then is the local town historian or historical society archiving it as well? If they are, how are they doing it? -
2021-02-07
Nature Endures
This photograph shows the imposing Catalina Mountains (Babad Do'ag to the indigenous Tohono O’odham) to the north of Tucson, Arizona, USA, with a majestic saguaro in the center front. The rocks in these mountains record millions of years of history. The multi-armed saguaro has stood for at least 75 years. Viewing these natural phenomena has always been a favorite pastime of mine, but during this time of pandemic, contemplating these forces of nature reminds me of the endurance of nature and the long stretch of environmental history. The pandemic and our current difficulties will pass just as other the saguaro and the mountains have seen many other calamities pass. -
2021-01-27
Adventist Health Sonora Cuts Short Its Mass Coronavirus Vaccination Clinics
This article addresses the issues my hometown is having with their vaccination process. While I do know several individuals who were able to receive the vaccine before the clinics were cut short, this is disappointing to those who had not yet received the vaccine. My hometown is a small community with many older residents, so it is important for the health and well-being of those in the area that the vaccination process happens as quickly and as cleanly as possible. Hopefully the new approach to this rollout is successful, and those eligible will receive the vaccine. -
2021-01-04
Fast Rollout of Virus Vaccine Trials Reveals Tribal Distrust
This article discusses why the Navajo Nation is hesitant to participate in the COVID-19 vaccine trials. Although Navajo leaders approved members to participate in the trial, tribal members have expressed extreme hesitation due to lack of informed consent in past experimental trials or the unethical use of tribal medical samples for other experiments. It is important to include this piece in the JOTPY archive as it documents a COVID-19 example of the distrust tribes have held towards the government since the colonization of their lands over the past several centuries. -
2021-01-16
An Eco-Socialist model for fixing the COVID-19 crisis
Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist with the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps, reflects on the state of the US's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He lists a set of demands, per se, that outline how focusing on an environmental ethic based on the principle of meeting the needs of each person can provide a way out of the pandemic. -
2021-02-06
Community Theater Zoom Shows
With Covid-19 shutting down live performances all over the world, community theaters have been struggling to pay their bills without the income from ticket sales. Because of this, many have turned to Zoom shows and donations so that they can stay afloat until it is safe to hold live performances again. Community theaters are necessary to keep the performing arts alive in small towns and rural areas, but they often receive less grant support than larger theaters and performing arts centers, so they often rely on the support of their patrons. Hopefully virtual performances and fundraisers can keep these theaters alive, so these smaller communities don't lose all access to live theater and performing arts. -
2021-02-03
The Proud Boys have been listed as a terrorist organization, now what?
Earlier this week, the Proud Boys were successfully listed as a terrorist organization by parliament thanks to the tireless efforts of Jagmeet Singh, the NDP, and Canadians who voiced their concerns regarding the fascistic proud boys, following their role in the January 6th coup attempt in Washington D.C. This news article was written in the wake of the ruling, that while the listing of the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization is undoubtedly a good thing, there have been questions raised in regards to effectively combating white supremacy and subsequently the amount of work that went into resisting expanding Canada’s description of ‘terrorist organizations.’ Essentially, by listing the Proud Boys as a Terrorist organization, we have been confronted with a possibility that future, more repressive or Conservative governments could easily utilize these legal systems against BIPOC community organizations, indigenous sovereignty and anti-fascists across the country. That essentially, we are relying too overly on the state itself to counter harmful movements which are fermenting across our country. That in order for lasting, and efficient change – we must be able to break from relying on state security and secret intelligence and tackle the problem at its core; mainly, what is causing the spread and radicalization processes of white supremacists. Essentially, we are only kicking the can down the road – that while this development is undoubtedly good for all Canadians, we are failing to address why white supremacy is so prevalent, and violent in our country, as the article concludes, “I understand why it feels good to call this organization a terrorist organization and why it might send the right signal but I think it also sends a false signal,” he said. ”Are we actually dealing with the underlying ideology of white supremacy by doing this? No we’re not.” I’m uploading this document to highlight the ongoing debate and conflict with white supremacy in Canada, providing how Canadians are now being confronted with the question of “what now?” following the ruling. For me, we will not defeat white supremacy in Canada until we address the influence of the institutions which are entrenched in our colonial history, and the subsequent ideology of white supremacy, such as the RCMP. The RCMP were a rural police force created solely to facilitate the Westward expansion of white Canadian settlers, effectively a state tool of genocide towards Indigenous peoples; to this day they still carry on the torch of eroding and combating Indigenous sovereignty, they are often the tool of the state and private business interests on unceded Indigenous land. -
2021-01-28
State expands access to COVID-19 vaccinations in rural areas
In Tennessee, the state has announced new partnerships with rural pharmacies to more effectively reach the elderly outside of urban areas. This particular article focuses on East Tennessee and the rural counties surrounding the Knoxville metropolitan area. This is great news to those who do not live in cities as Tennessee is a mostly rural state. For some elderly people, they would potentially have to drive two hours to get to the city to get a vaccine. However, because of this new partnership, it will make it far easier for those in rural areas to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. -
2020-01-28
IMMY Labs offers POD to help distribute Oklahoma vaccinations
IMMY Labs is a local company in my area that had previously offered free COVID testing to Oklahomans. Starting last week IMMY Labs created a POD at the Embassy Suites in Norman, Oklahoma. This offered senior citizens and healthcare workers the opportunity to receive the Pfizer vaccine and automatically sign up for the follow up vaccination. The POD is processing approximately 1200 people a day. Before many people in my area were driving up to 150 or more miles, roundtrip, to try to get vaccines. This has greatly improved availability for the elderly in my area. -
2021-01-07
A Virtual Funeral is Now Normal
On January 7, 2021 I attended a virtual funeral service for a friend's husband. This was the first time I had seen an online funeral. It was streamed on Youtube while the closest family and friends attended in person. I watched the service from my phone alone at work. It felt surreal. I recognized several friends on the tiny screen with familiar voices, but it felt far away. Since then I have spoken to a few people and mentioned how I felt disconnected to be on the other side of the screen. Many others had similar stories about these kinds of services. It was now normal to experience these things, but I can't shake the feeling of how much the experience continues to bother me. I hope some day online services won't be necessary. -
2020-12-17
Attending a Family Funeral During COVID-19
Standing outside in the cold dry wind, everyone was wearing masks. Small groups were huddled together but each grouping apart from the other. This was not how it was meant to be. The week before Christmas, I experienced this attending a relative's funeral. The pandemic made a traditional funeral impossible. Typically the gathering would be large and focused on coming together for strength. The service was minimized to a graveside service where social distancing could be practiced. The death was not COVID related, but the resulting affects of COVID completely disrupted our most guarded family traditions. The inconveniences of daily COVID restrictions seem trivial in comparison to the large moments that can never be replaced. Our family hopes for a future day when we can properly mourn this loss hand in hand. -
2021-01-30
Round Valley Indian Tribes, COVID testing and welfare checks
This is a webpage hosted by the Round Valley Indian Tribes to present COVID-19 testing information (downloadable flyer), procedures to follow to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and a form to request assistance related to COVID-19 impacts. -
2021-01-26
Wealthy couple chartered a plane to the Yukon, took vaccines doses meant for Indigenous elders, authorities said
A wealthy couple from Vancouver, Canada flew to a remote indigenous community in the Yukon to get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The Yukon community was deemed a priority community for the vaccine due to the remoteness as well as the high number of elderly and high-risk residents. The members of the community are unhappy about the couple's actions and wish to see them punished. -
2021-01-26
Documents that Explore Vaccine Differences Between States
It shows the differences in vaccines between states which will be valuable in the future. -
2021-01-24
An uneasy Quarantine
My experience during the pandemic was a little unsettled. My fiancee and were in the process of selling our house when this new SARS virus started to really spread throughout the United States. Surprisingly we received many good offers and one was too good to pass up. We had a house lined up in a rural area of Florida but that deal fell through. It seems as the pandemic got worse and spread rapidly in the major cities a lot of other people began buying properties in rural areas driving the prices up so the deal fell through. We then began looking for a house in the suburbs of Fort Myers, Florida. In the meantime, I had to live with my parents while we closed on a new house. This was an anxious time as both of them are over 60 years old and my father has existing lung problems I was and am dreadfully worried about him. However, with some luck and a great deal of vigilance and adherence to recommended conduct by the CDC, none of us ever got infected. My fiancee works in a large hospital because of her knowledge of safety procedures and warning signs our family has so far never gotten sick. Despite a few people close to us contracting the virus including our neighbor and her brother who was frail before contracting Covid and is now fighting for his life. These are scary and painfull times. -
2021-01
COVID-19 deaths soaring in Tennessee's more rural counties
Over the past several weeks, Knox County and the rural counties surrounding Knox have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Tennessee and its rural areas were not hit hard initially by the pandemic, but have become a major area for concern as of late. -
2021-01-24
SE NM’s Hospital COVID-Bed Capacity
This information displayed on this webpage contains an interactive map with corresponding data summary of the dedicated COVID beds and general capacity of hospitals in southeastern New Mexico for January 24th, 2021. This snapshot demonstrates a reasonably live and present condition of the availability for urgent and emergent COVID medical care within that geographic region and at that date and time. -
2021-01-23
Vaccine Rollout in Lower-Middle Income Countries
Getting vaccines for lower to middle income countries is a challenge. Some experts believe up to 90% in low income countries will not receive the vaccine in 2021. It isn’t just buying the vaccine for them, it is transporting the vaccine safely. The vaccine is incredibly temperature-sensitive. The Moderna vaccine must be kept between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F), while the Pfizer vaccine is minus 70°C! The answer for rural areas: solar-powered refrigeration. This “cold chain” of refrigerated vehicles may allow many areas in places like Africa to receive the vaccine. There are still complications and experts think up to 25% of the vaccines will still be wasted until the refrigerators are perfected. -
2021-01-21
Navajo Nation in Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan (updated Jan. 21, 2021)
(KRQE) Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez urges the Federal government to continue the distribution of COVID vaccine to the Navajo Nation. Until then, the vaccine distribution plan will proceed into the next phase- focusing its efforts to provide vaccines to those who are 65 or older. According to Nez, over 70 percent of the vaccines issued by the Federal government have already been administered to the Navajo people. -
2021-01-22
Navajo Nation COVID-19 Vaccine
Navajo Department of Health directive on Vaccine roll-out. -
2021-01-22
A Covid Experience
I learn about myself through the stories of others; this account is both a recounting of my friend Stephanie’s story, a conversation we had after she contracted Covid19, and my own introspection about the different impact that written and spoken stories have. -
2021-01-14
I got the vaccine!
On Thursday, January 14, I got the first round of the Moderna vaccine. I am a high school teacher in American Falls Idaho. I think I might be one of the first teachers in the country to get the vaccine. I am very excited and honored to be among the first. I’m very grateful to my school district for working hard to get vaccines. -
2021-06-14
Embracing the Plants
Once the pandemic was in full swing, food became rather scarce out in the county where I live. Frozen meals? Gone. Frozen vegetables? Gone. Meat? Gone. Dairy products? Sparse. What I could find in abundance were fresh fruit and vegetables. Largely because these do not store long term and people were stocking up on everything that they could hoard for the long haul. Could I really sustain my meat-loving family of 4 on fresh fruits and vegetables to help stretch our very thin stock of meats and dairy products? I have included some basic recipes that I used to help get through the pandemic. This massive change in diet left a lasting impact on my experience of the pandemic through my sense of smell, taste, and hearing. Meals no longer smelled like warm cooked meat with roasting potatoes. Meals became light and fresh. My house began smelling more like a garden every time I prepared a meal. I also no longer smelled the warmth of the stove or the smell of a pan heating up, since we chose to eat a lot of the plants and fruits in a more raw style to get the maximum nutritional value. The taste of meals and snacks changed from processed foods to natural snacks like nuts, dates, and dried fruit. I could taste the change from the pandemic. Everyday noises that would occur in my pre-pandemic household were no longer present in my pandemic household. No longer was there the sound of the oven turning on, the microwave running, or oil popping in the pan on the stove top. Instead, the new normal sounds were that of the food processor to make hummus, the sound of the blender making smoothies, and the sharp tap of the knife colliding with the cutting board. The recipes I chose to include are ones that we started with that have changed the way we eat. These were the easiest to sustain with readily available produce in my rural area. -
2020-01-11
Silent Bells & Quiet Halls: An Auditory Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic
In almost every aspect of life, COVID-19 has put the world on mute. From canceled weddings and downsized gatherings to remote workspaces and quiet homes left behind by those we have lost, the overwhelming soundtrack of the pandemic is silence. When K-12 students in the United States transitioned to distance learning nearly 10 months ago, elementary, middle, and high school campuses were abandoned, leaving bells silenced and hallways quiet. From March to November, this silence came to define my work at Princeton Joint Unified School District in the rural town of Princeton, California. No longer did bells ring to mark the end of one period and the beginning of another, lockers no longer slammed shut as students rushed to gather their belongings, and students could no longer be heard gossiping, laughing, and playing during morning break. While this silence initially felt like summer vacation had merely arrived a few months early, the lack of auditory stimulation began to diminish morale and decrease productivity as work felt further removed from the students themselves, transforming human beings into pieces of data and names on a paper. I could often go an entire eight-hour shift without speaking to another person, frequently finding my voice raspy when I would pick up the phone for the first time in hours. Even among coworkers, passing conversations vanished and became simple one-line emails dealing only with the business at hand. As Zoom calls replaced in-person staff meetings and participants remained on mute, the noisy world in which I once worked fell even further away. When in-person learning became optional in November, the sound slowly began to return, but it had changed from what it once was. Growing accustomed to the silence over the long summer, I often found myself jolted in surprise at each unexpected bell or sound of students on the playground. The number of students has drastically lowered since we first closed in March, as many opt to remain home to avoid possible exposure, while lunchtimes are now staggered, and breaks are shortened to prevent spread, creating ominously quiet and often uncomfortable atmospheres. The unease and discomfort heard in students' softened voices displays that widespread uncertainty that has permeated every corner of society. It is my greatest hope that schools will return to "normal" for the 2021-2022 school year and that the sounds of carefree students once more fill the hallways and classrooms of Princeton Joint Unified School District. Silence has become an all-too-painful reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I look forward to the day that bells ring on their regular schedule, coworkers are free to converse with one another, and every student returns to campus. In images and articles documenting the pandemic, the overwhelming auditory silence that many of us are experiencing is often lost and forgotten. -
2021-01-11
The Changing Sounds of Public Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic
My wife and I are both public educators at Hamburg Area High School, a rural school district in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused our district to fluctuate between in-person and virtual instruction. During virtual days teachers have been encouraged to teach from home to mitigate the risk of exposure to the virus. I conduct my American History classes from the office in our home, while my wife, a music teacher, performs virtual music lessons with her students in our dining room. This shift to virtual teaching from home has caused my classroom, which is usually quite traditional, to sound much different. While I attempt to educate my students on the finer points of American History, the sounds of young (and often struggling) musicians fill the air. Meanwhile, my two dogs also interject into class as they battle over toys and pillows. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only moved the location of public education, but also changed the way that education sounds. I recorded the following audio clip while my 3rd period AP US History class was studying primary source documents on the post-Civil War Reconstruction time-period (1865-1876) on Monday, January 11th. -
2020-12-01
COVID in the Navajo Nation
When I was originally planning my trip, I hoped to visit Antelope Canyon, as well as a few other parks on the Navajo Reservation, but the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the country, so by the time I was in the area, the parks were closed, and even if they had been open, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable visiting and spreading it more, even if I would have been outside and away from people. Because of that experience I wanted to take this space to try to amplify their experience. This Instagram account records the experience of an organization providing relief to members of the tribe. There are only 45 search results for Navajo in the archive, which I would constitute as an archival silence considering that many cities with comparable populations have hundreds of entries. I know that taking a screenshot of a website can only tell you so much, but it is the best way I could come up with of elevating the voices of the Navajo Nation, which is an important practice to engage within the context of archival work. -
2020-12-01
Growth in Quarantine
The week before the national quarantine guidelines were announced, I was on a choir trip to the Southern Division ACDA competition in Alabama. This trip was the beginning of my final high school plans, the beginning of the end. I was expecting to come home and tell my friends all about it, to plan for my next choir trip to New York City in a few short weeks, to soak up my last moments of high school, and, of course, to finally walk across the stage and graduate. It is kind of ironic that I was dreading the spotlight on me when I was handed my diploma and doing the awkward tassel flip, but now I wish I could have anything close to that experience. When I left that day for Alabama, I did not expect to never see a majority of those people from school ever again. The feelings of hopelessness and of worthlessness were shared among many globally, including myself, leaving me in a state of prolonged stagnance. Immediately after I got off the bus home from Alabama, I was sent on a train to my dad’s new house in rural upstate New York. I did not get to go home and get my things or say hi to my family. The next few months of my life consisted of my duffel bag packed for one week, random Amazon orders, and an endless forest. At first, I still had school to keep me occupied and feel normal, but eventually, that ended and I had nothing to fill up the days. My dad was barely home, as he had just started a new job, and there was no other human within several miles, not that I could talk to them anyway, but the thought would have been nice. I was completely isolated. I tried painting, baking, video games, and dying my hair, but nothing filled the emptiness I was feeling. I felt extremely unproductive, like I was just wasting away where no one could find me. Eventually, I decided to take advantage of the nothingness surrounding me. I ventured into the woods and saw a whole world that kept continuing amidst the pandemic. I was reminded that life kept going, and while it seemed like mine was completely frozen, that it would start up again one day. I started spending more and more time in the woods, watching saplings develop, the fawns growing older, and the stream carve its way through the rough earth. In order to keep a piece of that life closer to home, I created biospheres in glass jars so that I could feel the hope for life when I didn’t want to go outside. Through those months, I did a lot of reflection on the pandemic and what it meant for myself and others. I realized that my life will continue, I will continue to live one day, but some people will not if we are not in isolation, so suddenly all the pain of the things I missed was worth it. Eventually, I had to leave New York and come to Washington. I moved into my mom’s two bedroom apartment shared by her boyfriend and my little brother a few months prior to school starting. I began to experience those same things I did when in New York at first, but the difference was that here, I did not have a vast forest to walk into. I had approximately 1,200 square feet and a shared bedroom with a five year old boy to wander around. I had to learn to cope all over again. I turned to one of my favorite things, even before the pandemic: plants. A simple succulent now carried so much more weight than before, reminding me of life, similar to the forest in New York. I have since expanded my plant collection in my dorm room, reminding myself everyday that even when it doesn’t feel like it, I am continuing to grow and one day life will be back to normal. Once the pandemic ends, I will continue to care for and expand my collection of plants. I think that one day it will be cool to show people my “pandemic plants.” It will be a symbol of my growth through quarantine, a symbol that I made it. I never thought that something so simple would make such a big difference in my life. Everyone lost something during this time, but I believe everyone gained something too, and I gained some very valuable life lessons and insight. While the pandemic is still blazing forward and so many things are changing, I will try my best to stay inspired by life and inspire those around me as well. -
2020-09-29
Largest outbreak of COVID-19 in an Indigenous community in Canada offers important lessons
In the wake of a large outbreak of COVID-19 in northwestern Saskatchewan — the most serious of any Indigenous community in Canada — health officials and local leaders are relying on what they learned during the three-month ordeal to plan for potential outbreaks in other remote, rural areas. -
06/02/2020
Canada's Nunavut: A vast territory with few people - and no coronavirus
Nunavut remains the only state-level jurisdiction in North America not to record a single case of the virus that has sickened millions and killed more than 375,000 people worldwide. Every other Canadian province and territory and every U.S. and Mexican state has reported at least a few. -
10/19/2020
Coronavirus: The place in North America with no cases
Covid-19 cases are rising in many parts of Canada, but one region - Nunavut, a northern territory - is a rare place in North America that can say it's free of coronavirus in its communities. -
2020-05-29
Student-generated map shows COVID-19 travel restrictions in Northern Canada
An undergraduate student at the University of Alberta created a map of travel restrictions and road closures in Canada's North in an effort to document how Indigenous and remote communities are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-12-08
Helping residents of N.W.T town get cheaper groceries during the pandemic
A Northwest Territories man's new business involves driving back and forth to the Alberta border to pickup lower priced groceries for the residents of Hay River. -
2020-12-09
'They're really struggling': Inside the Neskantaga First Nation water crisis
The community was promised an upgraded treatment plant by 2018. Two years later, its members have once again been evacuated. Why doesn’t Neskantaga have clean water yet? -
2020-12-05
You can't get Covid from a cow
Being around the countryside has been a relief from the paranoia of the world. The cattle have no clue that the world around them is any different. -
2020-09-10
North West Territories Unique Tracing Method
A news article from the CBC detailing the use of a wastewater surveillance system for early warning of outbreaks in the North West Territories -
2020-12-01
Wet'suwet'en women urge B.C. to declare oil and gas work non-essential amid COVID
Article discussing the Wet'suwet'en women petitioning for the oil and gas industry to not be considered "essential" -
2020-11-28
Canada adds extra C$691 million to agriculture sector, cuts timeline for dairy farmers' aid
Article about funding for the agriculture industry -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Counties (Olympic Peninsula)
I live in a rural part western Washington about one hundred miles from the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 in Seattle. Even though I live in a county that voted Republican in 2016 and 2020 (the first time Grays Harbor County voted Republican for the first time since 1928 when Herbert Hoover was elected) people took the restrictions seriously. As we hear about the supposed difference in Covid-19 outbreaks between Red and Blue parts of the country I thought it would be interesting to show the county-by-county numbers for Covid-19. The file attached shows the health department web pages for each county. This shows how serious this region took the outbreak. The file is static, so anyone interested should follow the web addresses to see current numbers for active contact tracing, active Covid-19 cases and Covid-19 deaths. -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Native Tribes (Olympic Peninsula)
This is a collection of all of the western Washington Native American tribe’s Covid-19 information. Unlike other parts of the country, western Washington tribes have a low Covid-19 rate. -
2020-06-26
Australian Health Worker quote on rapid system changes
We had to make decisions on how to change systems quickly and implement them. Very optimistic that big changes could happen so quickly. Quote from Male aged 45, Rural Doctor. Image created by the Health Worker Voices project: https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/healthworkervoices -
2020-06-26
Australian Health Worker quote on workload
It will have a devastating impact, health workers that work out here that are already struggling constantly burnout. Quote from Male aged 45, Rural Doctor. Image created by the Health Worker Voices project: https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/healthworkervoices -
2020-08-24
Australian Health Worker quote on changes in responsibilities
The elevation of non-managers into the position of management caused quite a lot of concern. -
2020-08-31
Australian Health Worker quote on change in behaviour
Most of our GPS have taken up tele-health options, and now there is a demand for GPs for face to face. Quote from Female aged 54, Rural Nurse. Image created by the Health Worker Voices project: https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/healthworkervoices -
2020-08-28
Australian Health Worker quote on treatment of Health Workers
It's good now that the conversation has changed and they're treating health workers as heroes. Quote from Female aged 54, Rural Nurses. Image created by the Health Worker Voices project: https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/healthworkervoices -
2020-05-03
" The man feeding a remote Alaska town with a Costco card and a ship " - The Hustle
The advent of COVID-19 has made it more difficult for isolated, rural communities to maintain access to basic necessities such as food, water, and personal care products. In an article for the Hustle, journalist Zachary Crokett recounts the story of a Gustavus, Alaska grocer named Toshua Parker, who has taken it upon himself to supply the needs of his fellow townspeople in a time of crisis. Through the use of a shipping freighter, business connections, and a trusty Costco membership card, Parker has mostly succeeded in supplying the community's consumer needs and has made his business, Toshco, an economic pillar of Gustavus. The success of Parker's small, rural business in the face of COVID-19, according to Crockett, is representative of a "renaissance" of rural businesses, which are an important component of supplying a town's consumer needs. Without these businesses, isolated rural communities such as Gustavus would have a harder time enduring the pandemic relative to communities with robust economic centers. -
2020-06-16
Class of 2020 Celebrated by a Rural Community
The rural community of Tuttle, Oklahoma honored their class of 2020 high graduates with a sign made out of a round bale of hay. The round bale was located just off of State Highway 37 next to the Tuttle Grain & Supply. As part of the creativity, the bale had a sign saying: "Class of 2020" with comments such as "Proud of You!" and "Congrats!" as well as "Great Job!" The sign then covered the face of the hay bale in the design of a large face mask. The community was acknowledging the circumstances that altered the 2020 senior year and graduation to be a smaller event. -
2020-11-03
Voting Lines Stretched Across Two Parking Lots
On November 3, 2020 I took a photo of the voting line that was spread across the Legacy Bank and Library parking lots in Blanchard, Oklahoma. The small community has several voting precincts and this is just one of them. At one point it was mentioned that people were waiting up to three hours to vote at this voting location. The crowd appeared to be somewhat spaced apart and some were wearing masks. The pandemic affected how people stood near each other, which would've been normally much closer. -
2020-07-10
Summer Coin Shortage Still Going in November
On July 10, 2020 the local bank had a sign displayed that warned of the coin shortage that was caused by the pandemic. Due to the shortage, local businesses were limited in the amount of coins they could request from the National Bank in Blanchard, Oklahoma. On July 24, 2020 we decided to do our part and cashed in all of our coins. This gave us some extra cash and gave the bank some extra rolls of coins to distribute to the local businesses. Signs at local fast food restaurants still display their signs on the coin shortage and occasionally cannot make exact change. For certain restaurants like Taco Bell, they were encouraging over the summer to donate the remaining change to a charity they would then distribute the money to. This is example of how the pandemic has changed our lives in unpredictable ways. -
2020-08-07
Health Insurance Providers mailing reusable masks for medical appointments
On August 7, 2020 I received a message from a relative that their health insurance company had mailed them a small envelope with a cloth mask. At the time in Oklahoma, masks were still fairly difficult to find in stores and reusable masks were still available mostly online at considerable costs. The elderly relative said that her and her husband were told to use these if they went to a doctor's appointment or to a hospital. The pamphlet also advised them on the best way to wash and dry the mask for further use. This is something that seems like a small cost to the company, but could benefit everyone if it helped prevent people from getting sick, especially from COVID-19. -
2020-09-15
US Postal Service notice on voting by mail during COVID-19
On September 15, 2020 I received a post card mailer from the U.S. Postal Service. The message is: "If you plan to vote by mail, plan ahead." The reverse side had my information and a note detailing a list of suggestions to prepare for mailing in a ballot during the 2020 U.S. Election. Personally, I've voted in many elections over the past few decades and voted by mail for a long time before this election as well - I've never received any information like this. You can tell that during the pandemic there was going to be a lot of pressure on voting by mail. Personally, I turned in my ballot at least a month before the actual day in fear that the postal system would be overwhelmed in the days right before the election. This is the first year where voting by mail didn't seem like a convenience, but felt like it was a large part of election history. The pandemic seems to be shifting our daily lives in ways that no one would've expected at the beginning of 2020.