Coronavirus in India: ''Risk is there but sitting idle is even worse," said Nicole and cousin Tina
While India grapples with the horrific second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, young men and women from all walks of life across the country, are doing whatever they can to help others in extreme distress. Two young women - Nicole Furtado and her cousin Tina Cherian - from Bengaluru are volunteering for burying people who died of COVID-19.
Our families have been doing covid relief work...It feels good to help in some way. Risk is everywhere but sitting idle at home is even worse," they said.
Like Nicole and Tina, two brothers who are keen bikers, have been volunteering as ambulance drivers. "Either we can watch, or we can do something. We chose to do," Murthaza Junaid and Muteeb Zoheb have been quoted by news agency ANI as saying.
"As we travel across India and the neighbouring countries on our bikes, we have been trained on evacuation. Ladakh is at a high altitude. For the saturation level, we have been using oximeters there and checking the physical condition of the riders. We are using the same tools and similar experience to check patients and give them first aid," Zoheb said.
The brothers say, they have been volunteering as ambulance drivers for the last three weeks. "People used to get the patients in two-wheelers and autos because they could not afford ambulance services," Junaid said.
"I have seen visuals where people were running from pillar to post for hospitals...I could see the pain of people. I did not want to sit back and complain, so we started volunteering," said Zoheb.