Being a volunteer in the country with the highest number of vaccinated people

General

How is the situation in your city/ country? Is there a 2nd wave yet?
Israel is the country with the highest number of vaccinated people in the world right now. The numbers of new infections per day is extraordinarily low and luckily normal life is starting to come back. People in the country are starting to get a little more relaxed, however there are still certain restrictions that influence everyday life, like the obligation to wear masks at any time when you are outside your own home.

How did the atmosphere in your country change within the last months?
I haven’t been here for so long since I arrived four months ago as a volunteer from Austria but it seems to me that the quickly rising numbers of vaccinations gave many people hope which is of course a good thing and helps many to go through this tough time. Unfortunately there are also some others who seem to lose awareness of how serious the situation still is and how dangerous it could become again despite the success of the vaccinations. It is still important to be careful.

View of Jerusalem during sunset from the Mount of Olives in the East of the city.

How are you and your family?
I’m happy that me and my family in Austria are all well and none of us did get infected with Covid so far. Luckily by now I am able to go out again and meet friends and new people since I already got vaccinated a month ago, but my family back home really misses going out and taking part in social life.

What was the biggest challenge for you within the last months?
The biggest challenge for me was to arrive in the unknown and new city Jerusalem and not being able to explore the city or the country in general. For a certain period it was only allowed to move within a 1000 m radius around your home so I could barely visit anything in this time.

Luckily I am able to go out again to meet friends and new people since I already got vaccinated a month ago.

Measures

When did you realize how serious the situation is?
When I prepared for my voluntary service I already got the feeling that it wouldn’t be so easy in the first few months of my stay. I had to fill in a lot of forms regarding my health and personal data in order to obtain an entrance permit to the state of Israel. Moreover, I had to get a health report from a doctor stating that I’m in a good medical condition and that I don’t belong to any of the high risk groups of the disease.

How did your government react to the crisis? Which measures/restrictions were taken first?
The government of Israel reacted to the crisis by taking different measures which aimed to prevent the further outspread of the virus. For example the closing of restaurants and bars and other places of social life like cinemas and theaters. As it can be seen in the high number of vaccinated people in Israel, compared to other countries, the government also made a big effort to quickly provide a high number of doses of vaccines for the population.

A popular bar in Tel Aviv – this photo was taken when a lot of people in Israel have already been
vaccinated and the bars and restaurants were allowed to open again.

Are you satisfied with the measures of your government? What was good/bad?
I am really lucky that I could already get vaccinated, which probably wouldn’t have been possible in Austria so far. The lockdown has been a bit tough but I already went through a lockdown before coming to Israel, so I was kind of used to that. In my opinion it is good that these measures had been taken, because every action that’s taken to combat the pandemic brings us closer to a normal life again.

What would you like to say to your government?
I would like to thank the government for giving me the possibility to spend a year in this country by permitting me to stay here as a volunteer although the situation is so difficult. It’s so hard to travel at this moment, no matter where you plan to go, so it’s not a matter of course to have this opportunity.

Which sentence of a virologist/politician did you memorize the most?
I don’t remember any certain sentences by any politician or virologist.

I would like to thank the government for giving me the possibility to spend a year in this country by permitting me to stay here as a volunteer although the situation is so difficult.

The Virus

Do you know anybody who was infected with COVID-19 or even died?
Luckily, nobody of my family, relatives or friends got infected with COVID-19 so far. However, before I finished school and all education facilities in Austria were closed there were some registered cases in our school.

Have you already done a Coronavirus test or have you been in quarantine?
I have done two tests so far, one in July and one in November, shortly before my departure to Jerusalem. When I arrived here I had to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

Are you afraid of getting infected with the Coronavirus?
Before I got vaccinated I was a bit concerned from time to time when going to crowded places that couldn’t be avoided like supermarkets or pharmacies. Of course I’m always wearing a mask and try to keep enough distance to others but in fact you can never be totally sure not to get infected or unknowingly endangering others by spreading the virus.

In fact you can never be totally sure not to get infected or unknowingly endangering others by spreading the virus.

The lockdown

How long is/was your lockdown and what was allowed/what wasn´t?
The last lockdown lasted for a couple of months. All cultural events like concerts were cancelled and public spaces like theaters or cinemas had to be closed. For some weeks restaurants and bars were allowed to offer their products for take away, but after some time this possibility was cancelled too since the numbers of infected people didn’t seem to go down. For some weeks there was also a restriction which prohibited leaving a 1.000 meter radius of the place where you live.

Normally there are many tourists in this street in the historic center of Jerusalem.

Did you spend the lockdown time with somebody and what did you do during this time?
I spent the time of the lockdown together with some colleagues from the place where I am volunteering. Very often we just sat together after work and talked about different topics or watched TV together.

What did you miss the most during the lockdown? What helped you?
I really missed going out and getting in touch with other people or going to places and events like museums, cinemas or concerts. Israel has a lot of culture to offer and it would have been nice to discover that variety earlier. What helped me was the fact that although the situation was bad I knew that life would normalize at some point in the future and things wouldn’t be like this forever.

Mahane Yehuda, a big market in Jerusalem, which is normally crowded especially in the evenings as there are lots of bars.
When this photo was taken, there were not many people there.

For some weeks there was a restriction which prohibited leaving a 1.000 meter radius of the place where you live.

Changes

How did your work situation change within the last months (shorter hours, working from home, etc.)
I started to work as a volunteer in a guesthouse in Jerusalem, but that wasn’t due to the Corona Crisis but because of my civil service abroad which I started in December.

How did your social life (relationship/friendships/dating) change due to the Corona crisis?
Staying in contact is hard when you are not able to meet your friends and family in person. Of course it is possible to stay in touch on social media and the internet, but it’s not the same kind of connection if you have a screen between you all the time.

What impact has the Corona crisis on your financial situation?
It doesn’t really have an impact.

Social distancing: How does your daily life look like at the moment?
I am working 5 days a week as a volunteer in a guesthouse in Jerusalem as I already mentioned. On these days I spend most of the day working in the house, either in the office or at the reception. Since the lockdown ended some time ago, social life slowly starts to come up again, so I often go out after work to meet friends or to get in touch with new people. On my free days I usually travel to other places within Israel to see as much of the country as possible during the time I am here.

The historic center of Jerusalem in winter.

Since the lockdown ended some time ago, social life slowly starts to come up again.

Perception

Who are to your opinion the heroes of this crisis?
The people who work in jobs which are important for keeping our society alive. They are not able to just work from home or take some time off. Moreover they can’t avoid contact to others and social distancing is impossible for them. I experienced that closely when I was still in Austria since my sister is working in a kindergarten. Very often she came home after a day of work worried and stressed because it was impossible to tell right away if coughing or feverish children in her group had a simple cold or got infected with Covid.

What did the crisis show you?
Although we are living in modern times with advanced technologies and good medical care in many parts of our world there are still situations and crises which can’t really be predicted. Therefore it is almost impossible for us to prepare for times like this.

What will you appreciate more after the crisis?
Probably I will appreciate simple things like just walking out of the house without wearing a face mask more. I never thought being able to simply go to restaurants or cultural events spontaneously could be so difficult.

Which images will you never forget?
I guess I will never forget the image of every person wearing a face mask in public. When the crisis is over and life normalizes again it will take me some time to get used to seeing everyone without masks again.

Which stories/incidents/experiences touched/shattered you the most?
A close relative of mine got a dangerous kind of cancer at the beginning of the pandemic. When he started his therapy, nobody was allowed to visit him because his immune system was weakened by the strong medication and an infection with Covid would have been very dangerous for him. A family member having cancer is a really shattering situation just by itself. But to know that you won’t be able to visit this loved person for a long time and not knowing if you will see each other ever again made it even harder for me.

My sister is working in a kindergarten and very often she came home worried and stressed because it was impossible to tell if coughing or feverish children had a simple cold or got infected with Covid.

Perspective

What are you afraid of right now?
I’m a bit afraid that fighting the pandemic will take longer than expected right now and that I won’t be able to get to know Jerusalem and Israel in general under normal circumstances while. On the other side this would be a good reason to come to visit this beautiful country again.

What gives you hope?
Above all, the thought that we are all in this together and we are not alone, even if it feels like this in this strange time. But also the fact that the number of vaccinated people is rising steadily and that my friends and family are well are calming for me. Sometimes it helps to simply remind yourself that there will be a time after Corona.

Are you planning to travel within the next months?
As soon as it is possible I want to visit my girlfriend. She is in Georgia right now, so it would also be a nice possibility to discover the country, a place where I have never been so far.

Would you get yourself vaccinated against COVID-19?
I am already vaccinated and it was absolutely worth the difficulties of getting the shots.

What can we all learn from this crisis?
We should be more aware of the fact that there are some incidents which are able to change the world and life as we know it completely. It is not easy to be prepared for these exceptional cases as they are hardly predictable. As we saw this year, such problems can occur faster than expected. Therefore, I would say we should try to be more thankful for our own health and well-being, we should be more aware of our vulnerability and we should spend more time with our loved ones.

If you could give 2020 a headline, what would it be?
2020 – The golden year of toilet paper.

Sometimes it helps to simply remind yourself that there will be a time after Corona.