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Date is exactly
2020-04-13
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2020-04-13
You Do You
Given the way this virus has inserted itself into our lives, its effects can be felt by almost everyone. In order to stave off the inaction that can easily sneak in and attach itself to me, I have resolved to do two things. Make my bed and take a shower every day. I'm not saying that anyone else has to do them. It's okay to not master a new language or learn the harpsichord. But for me, if I do nothing one day, that soon turns into three or four days of doing nothing. When I see creativity on the web from people all around the globe, I'm inspired. So, I put artwork or drawing and painting tutorials online in the hopes that it might inspire others to be creative. You don't have to create something massive or incredible. Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference to someone else. So, that's the way to do it. Do something. Do you paint? Do you draw? Do you build furniture? Are you a whiz when it comes to growing turnips? Whatever it is, show it to others. Step outside yourself for a minute and maybe be that inspiration for someone else. Or not. There's a lot to be said for just keeping it together and getting up every day. If that's what you got - do that. Just wash your hands. -
2020-04-13
Saudi Arabia Races to Contain Epidemic in Islam’s Holiest City
This article is about Saudi authorities rushing to contain COVID-19 in the Islamic holy city of Mecca. It goes on to talk about how Saudi Arabia is doing everything they can to shield Mecca specifically because of its importance to the worlds Muslim population. -
2020-04-13
Coronavirus Political Cartoon -- Tomb of the Unknown Delivery Guy
This political cartoon plays on an iconic symbol of US national chauvinism: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This tomb, located in Arlington National Cemetery, commemorates the lives of soldiers that were given for our country whose remains cannot be identified. The cartoon draws this tomb and, in place of the original inscription, reads, "Tomb of the Unknown Delivery Guy." In these unprecedented times, Americans have turned to relying on delivery men and women to bring food to their door in order to limit social contact, and thus prevent the spread of the virus. As such, these delivery people's jobs are deemed "essential," whereas they still hold low status within our economic and capitalist system. They are being compared to the unknown soldiers because of a key word: unknown. They are risking infection to supply Americans with food, yet they are still under-valued by those eating the food they supply. While the country's situation should allude to the importance of low status jobs, including but not limited to the delivery people, it is highly likely that after the pandemic has ceased, these workers will continue to be unknown. By employing a well-known "American" symbol, this comparison and social commentary is made abundantly clear to the American people without needing textual explanation. -
2020-04-13
Corporate Financial Response for C2 Education due to Continuing Pandemic Difficulties
Fellow Associates, In my emails to you over the past few weeks, I have thanked and applauded the whole C2 Team on how we have adapted so fast into Virtual, while I have also been writing that we might need to adjust as we learn more about the situation and the economy. I had hoped that we would not need to make adjustments. We have held off as long as we could and frankly longer than many companies. However, the environment has further deteriorated and so the time is now. I want to share with you some critical adjustments we now need to make in the face of these challenging unprecedented times. First, I want to reinforce how proud I am of the C2 Team in how we have responded to shutting down our centers with skillful, innovative and hard work by so many. C2 Virtual was developed and launched in an extraordinary fast timeline. We already have about 60% of the sessions per day as we had before we shut our centers, and about 40% of our students in February have already been in a Virtual session. Our surveys are now showing high satisfaction with Virtual by our students and parents. Thank you to every single one of our 2,000 associates for embracing the change with Virtual. However, these times are so uncertain for so many of C2 potential customers and many are just not willing to decide to spend money on our type of services right now. This results in our revenue being only about 25% of a normal level. By continuing to serve our students with our teachers, we are spending money to pay teachers but with only 25% of the revenue coming in. That means we are losing cash and that is not sustainable. Over the past 3 weeks the leadership team has been trying to secure funding to make up for these losses. Our main shareholder and investor, Serent Capital, is being very supportive with extra capital and we are trying to get a loan from the SBA and the Cares Act. However, those efforts will not be sufficient to weather the current storm. We now need to temporarily adjust the numbers of our associates to enable C2 to get financially through this COVID -19 period. These are planned to be temporary COVID-19 adjustments and to be in place for the next 3 months. I will refer to “furloughs" and I want to first explain a furlough. Someone who is on furlough has their pay suspended temporarily but can keep benefits such as health. Importantly they are still employees of the company. They are NOT “Laid off”. They can be asked to come back into the workplace again at any time. While on furlough one can get unemployment benefits including the higher amounts from the two trillion dollar Cares Act. These adjustment plans have been carefully worked on by the ESC leadership team and the RVPs. We have had two overriding goals: - to be sure we continue to serve our existing students and are as well positioned as possible to regain momentum once the centers can open and the environment improves. - to take care of our employees as much as possible. So we are adjusting with furloughs rather than layoffs, enabling the continuation of everyone’s C2 benefits. Here are the broad details. -The ESC will reduce costs by 60% with half of the associates being furloughed, and with salary cuts for all the remaining ESC associates and RVPs in amounts ranging depending on salary... starting with myself at 50% and then down in percentage tiers from that. -We will keep all our centers open in the Virtual world. Some centers will move into combined lobbies, but with no changes in experience for our students or teachers. -We will have to operate with many less associates spread across the virtual centers. -For District Managers, half will be going on furlough or changing their duties. -For our Center Directors and Education Coordinators, 40% will be going on furlough. -Our teachers will continue as per the student schedules. Even after these cuts, we will be losing cash each month and this cash loss difference will be supported by our investors until we come out of this period when we can re-build with our re-opened centers and returning associates. Over the next few hours, the leadership team will be sharing with each one of you how this impacts you. These adjustments will be effective at the end of tomorrow. The rest of today and all of tomorrow will be considered Hand Off Days to ensure we can continue to serve our students. To minimize the impact on our students and their families, I trust we will all act as One Team over these two days with a high level of professionalism no matter how we are each impacted. In all my years as a leader, I could never have imagined that I would encounter such a situation in such unprecedented times. It’s never easy making changes like furloughs but it is especially difficult personally in such a great engaging, inspiring, values-driven and growing company as C2, and when it is of this magnitude, being in response to something that is entirely out of everyone’s control. C2 is so personal to us all. This really hurts all our hearts. It is all of our hope that once the centers can open we will be able to ramp up our business and bring associates back to engage again in C2. As the environment and confidence improves, families will find ways to pay for C2’s great services. I know the next days and months will be very tough. I wish all those going on furlough well and I thank those who remain and who will often take on a different scope of responsibilities. As we go though our different journeys, drawing on courage and resilience, I wish that you and your families stay healthy. In closing, whether on furlough or still working at C2, we are all connected in the C2 spirit. It runs through our veins. In spirit, we are still ONE TEAM with ONE PURPOSE. Best, -
2020-04-13
I'm going to take a walk
This is a video of my personal experience of the Pandemic. -
2020-04-13
LAtoNOLA.com blog
A love letter to New Orleans' Carnival, concerts, cuisine, and culture - with lots of photos. -
2020-04-13
Living Life under COVID-19
A federal employee takes a flight from NYC to California, the plane is empty save a few passengers and he enjoys the extra legroom, a rare luxury. This series describes the new landscapes we find ourselves in as COVID-19 pervades every aspect of life. -
2020-04-13
All Community Events Canceled Through the 4th of July on Fort Yuma Indian Reservation
"Due to confirmed case in our community the Quechan Tribe has decided to cancel all community events... This will remain until further notice." #IndigenousStories -
2020-04-13
Staying at home: Big Change
Every day when I open my eyes, the first thing I do is open my phone and check my social media. Weibo, a major tool for most Chinese to get the news, shares the tendency of the virus in the first place. As a study abroad student, I got messages from my friends every day to check if I’m okay. I got the message from one of my best friends yesterday to ask if I need some supplies that he can deliver. My parents made a phone call every day to check my status. Every time I got the phone call, I would hear similar words from my parents. For example, stay at home and wash hands frequently. I strictly follow their instruction. I noticed until the day I wrote this journal, the number of people affected in America has reached 570,000. The number may be the reason why everyone is asking me. The number has increased every day, and I saw a big change in the place I live in. The building I lived in announced that all the delivery no longer can send to the apartment. All the delivery will leave at the front desk. Then, a new announcement came out in the following two days, that there will be someone to send to the doors. In other words, in order to protect everyone, the residences no longer need to go down and pick up their delivery; Instead, a team member will deliver them to the door and wearing masks and gloves. Besides, the elevators only can take four people in time to keep the social distancing. I think all the policies are really responsible and careful to all the residents. I went to the supermarket this week, as the first time I went out after staying at home for three weeks. I went to H Mart, a Korean supermarket near the place I lived. I was surprised that it also did a really good job of preventing the virus. The market controlled the number entered and lined up all the customers outside. The security will ask all the customers to keep the distance from each other. When I entered the market, and employees gave me a pair of gloves. There is still sufficient food in there. At the checkout, there is a transparency board that isolated the cashiers and customers. This is what I experience this week and share those in my journal. I hope everyone stays healthy! -
2020-04-13
Remote Learning
As a college student, my academic career continues even this epidemic hits hard. During the first two week of transitioning to the remote learning, I felt lost and everything was out of control. I had to set up a schedule by myself to keep up with all the deadlines and make sure not missing any lecture that could be on the test. It was a complete novel experience for me, because I was so used to running between classes and let the schedule catch me instead of following the fixed schedule. Luckily, all my professors were supportive and are patient in guiding us through all the modules and send out reminders about the deadlines. -
2020-04-13
Online prayers
For the past 22 years, Indians in Ghana have performed a weekly prayer meeting. Popularly known as the "Vishnu Group", each family used to book a slot a year in advance to conduct this prayer at their house. The gathering consists of nearly 60 people who gathered at the host family's house every week. During this puja, the gathering recites the traditional Vishnu Sahasranamam, Hanuman Chalisa, and prays to Lakshmi and Shiva. The group then proceeds to an hour long bhajan. After this, they proceed to the potluck dinner made up of traditional items. However, due to COVID-19, the group can no longer meet and have instead shifted their prayers online. The picture shows the prayer area in Mrs Gomati Mohan's house. Garlands are seen decorating the pictures and the host couple is seen performing the traditional aarti. In this new, modern form of praying, each member of the group performs the prayer in their own house and updates the other members in a common WhatsApp group. -
2020-04-13
Indefinite holidays
All the school buses remain in a standstill due to Ghana’s lockdown. -
2020-04-13
No Work, No Play
The picture reflects an empty construction site due to lockdowns in Tema, Ghana. The entire country has been shut down, except the ports that remain open for essential food and medicines. Soaps and sanitizers are given at every shop for customers to use before they enter, without which there’s a strict no-entry policy being enforced. -
2020-04-13
Empty flights
My mom took this photo on their flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad to Kotoka International Airport in Ghana, Africa. It looks like people had reduced travelling even before Ghana announced a lockdown. The flight was deserted, and so was the airport. Although the virus hadn’t spread to Ghana at the time, the airport authorities checked the temperature of every disembarked passenger before letting them go. -
2020-04-13
Learning to cook during the pandemic
This video was taken by Mrs Uma Pujar and shows her daughter learning to make sorghum bread the traditional way. While COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in the outside world, this video shows that people inside the house get to spend some quality family time together. -
2020-04-13
Militares persiguen a balazos a vecinos por impedir que entierren a un fallecido con COVID-19 en el cementerio
En la ciudad de Cañete - Perú varios policías y militares, tuvieron que disparar al aire para dispersar a un grupo de personas que impedían el ingreso de un ataúd al cementerio General de San Vicente porque llevaban restos de una persona que falleció con corona virus. Los vecinos se opusieron al entierro por considerar el cajon como foco infeccioso. Algunos fueron llevados a la comisaría y finalmente el fallecido fue enterrado. -
2020-04-13
Our doctors visit during COVID-19
This photograph demonstrates the difficulties imposed on persons who need to see a doctor during the pandemic. Visiting A doctor at this time requires four entries into the doctors office. 1. Go into the office and inform them of your need for medical attention. You will receive a clipboard with a form to fill out. Then you will return to your car to fill it out. 2. After filling out your form you take it in the doctors office where you were towed to return to your car and wait for a text message. 3. Your third trip into the doctors office will be to have your temperature taken after which you will return to your car again. 4. You will receive another text message and informed whether you are allowed in the doctors office or not, if you are allowed in on your fourth trip into the office you will see a doctor.