“The Covid-19 pandemic has taken over the world in a blink of an eye (It really does feel that way, sometimes). What was once a bright looking future, celebrating visions for 2020, suddenly looked bleak and hopeless. People were forced to stay indoors and were told to conduct social-distancing and to most of us, this was not an easy task. The usual crowded places like restaurants and shopping centres were closed, the streets were left cold and empty. The whole world feels like it is heading towards a standstill. This turnout of events however did not stop the community from coming together. Today, let’s dive into what’s been happening in our very own community,” reported Sophia Lee, current intern at TFM. “It’s pretty amazing to see there was a self-organised support group that popped up and a lot of virtual events among the TFM Alumni community,” Huda commented in a video call that happened between the two authors.
In response to this overwhelming bad news, The TFM Alumni Community have remarkably turned the situation for the better. The Alumni Board played their part in providing support by doing a quick roll call via Google Forms to make sure Alumni were safe and if they were facing any challenges in adapting to the Movement Control Order (MCO). Once the roll call was sent out, Alumni from all walks of life joined hands in supporting one another and discussed the various types of activities that could be done throughout the MCO. So, instead of being isolated at home and resorting to being a couch potato, many Alumni reached out and started self-organising activities that were conducted virtually.
It started with a HIIT workout session, followed by insightful discussions and even watercolor workshops! Some activities are still going on today. There were loads of fun activities organised to actively engage with one another and lighter virtual meet ups to release stress after an entire day of working from home.
A continuation series of previous IDEAS Circles also formed in an ‘online’ version to hold the space for Alumni and friends to discuss topics that people are curious about or anything relevant to the global changes today. Some of the topics included ‘What if the pandemic continues?’, ‘Starting a school’, ‘What sort of leaders do we need to make change?’, ‘What are future careers, now?’ and many more. This allowed people to not only broaden their perspective but also gain new knowledge, all while being at home. All you have to do is say ‘YES’ and take a chance to learn from one another and grow in ways you would never imagine.
Another major event that happened was the Teacher’s Got Talent live concert! Even from home, the TFM community of Fellows and Alumni used this opportunity to pledge donations and acknowledge the work of individuals and organisations out there that are working hard to help communities in need. Whether it was by tuning in to Facebook Live or performing, all that support from the community contributed to the event’s huge success. Thank you for sharing the space and standing in solidarity with us.
As we all know, the Alumni consists of hundreds of people and it is impossible to know every single one of them. However, through the activities organised, Alumni from different cohorts, old and new were able to collide and form friendships along the way. This was what some of them had to say about meeting new people and making new friends:
“Who knew we could make new friends this way, through sharing a screen and plugging sounds in each other’s ears. Next thing you know, we are friends on many social media platforms before physically meeting up. As weird as social distance friendships are, it makes me feel like my new friends are from a different country! haha. It does feel like a new experience of making genuine friendships. I really hope to meet them all after the MCO.” – Huda ‘15
“We talked about a myriad of topics from family, YouTube lesson video planning and how to grow our followers through social media platforms that we have. Our call made me realise that no matter how many followers, like or subscribers we have, in the end it boils down to our intention of sharing content – saham akhirat ❤ ,” Atiqah ’18 on meeting Huda’ 15 virtually for the first time.
This pandemic took us by surprise but the extraordinary thing is how the community decided not to take life for granted, but to take this opportunity to show compassion, empathy and also love to the people that need it the most. Throughout this time, new experiences were made via a variety of video calls, muscles were stretched via workout sessions, new learnings took place around countless IDEAS Circles, poems were written and hidden talents were shown in FB live concert: Teacher’s Got Talent. There are endless ways creativity can be explored on our current socially distant platform of expression, but most importantly new connections were formed.
As we adapt to this new normal in the upcoming weeks, let us shift our fear and anxious feelings to one of courage and hope for our well-being and the health of our community. We can play our part in any way possible: Check in with a friend; organise a virtual lunch; join screens in reflection and prayer or even learn a new skill while you are at home. We hope you are aware that you are a part of a community that believes in YOU and is here for you. The virus may have robbed us from our comfort of friendly catch ups and sharing physical spaces together, but it will never be able to take away the new connections that have formed through it. We will survive this together!
Sending you love and strength, wherever you are.
P.S. – You can find upcoming activities we will be organising for the rest of the MCO here.
© April 2020 – Huda Nejim ‘15 and Sophia Lee (TFM Intern)
Teach For Malaysia Alumni Network 