LGM resource provides COVID support

By Submitted Article on June 13, 2020.

Trudy Dyck

ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES

Recently, when the federal government was advising Canadians abroad to return to Canada, I travelled into the U.S. to bring a family member home.

It was a very quick trip, I left and came back within 24 hours. I was unsure what to expect when travelling, as there were a lot of unknowns that made me nervous. Everything ended up going very smoothly. Travelling wasn’t that different from what I was ordinarily used to. There were few things that stood out, like some people wearing masks and gloves and some signage at airports with COVID-19 messages.

Before we could board our last flight to bring us into Canada, we had to answer a short health questionnaire. Once we got back to the airport we drove home and immediately went into quarantine for 14 days. We were fortunate to have family members who brought us groceries during that time. We had a few visits with people stopping by and would chat with them briefly over the fence from a distance. Fortunately, we didn’t develop any symptoms and when the two weeks were up we were able to get out of quarantine. This whole experience seems so bizarre when I compare it with the normal life I am used to.

What would’ve been considered “normal” life seemingly changed overnight. I have travelled numerous times and never had to quarantine for two weeks after coming back into Canada. This COVID-19 pandemic has created so many challenges that we’ve never had to deal with before. Many have lost their jobs, others are working from home and having to figure out how to make it work with kids at home, their school schedules, etc. I could go on and on. Through all of this many people and businesses and organizations are getting creative and figuring out how they can still make things work and support others.

Here in southern Alberta we have created a Low German Mennonite Community Resource Inventory to better support the Low German Mennonite (LGM) community amidst COVID-19. The committee has created numerous resources that the LGM community may find useful. Other resources are directed for service providers or organizations that are looking to support their LGM clients or employees.

The inventory is a reflection of an interagency partnership called the South Zone Low German Community Resources Committee. There are many resources created that are in Low German to ensure that those who don’t speak English have more equitable access to the important and ever-evolving information regarding COVID-19.

You can access this inventory of resources at https://sites.

google.com/view/lgmcovid

resources/home. You also have an opportunity to sign up to be notified of updates to the resource and you have the opportunity to identify gaps in the resources available. Feel free to have a look at the website and use and/or share the resources.

Trudy Dyck is a Community Health Representative with Alberta Health Services, and she can be reached at trudy.dyck@ahs.ca.