ECS has been involved in vaccination and awareness drives in collaboration with district administration and other stakeholders across Tuensang district. (Photo Courtesy: ecs_tuensang@instagram)
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Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | August 6
Even as the pandemic swept across the world and overwhelmed health systems, social entrepreneurs have played a leading role in reaching communities in the last mile. In recognition of this remarkable work during the COVID-19 crisis, Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS), Tuensang, has been listed as one of the Top 50 COVID-19 Last Mile Responders by the World Economic Forum’s COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs (CRASE).
The Top 50 COVID-19 Last Mile Responders were nominated through the COVID Response Alliance. Collectively, the Last Mile Responders are said to be supporting over 171 million people across the country and “work in at least one of the four critical areas in fighting the virus and ensuring an inclusive recovery—Prevention and Protection; COVID-19 Treatment and Relief; Inclusive Vaccine Access; and Securing Livelihoods.”
On being listed as one of the Top 50 Last Mile Responders, Founder of ECS, Rev Dr Chingmak Chang said that “it came as a big surprise.” “We are just doing what we have to do. I tell my staff that we are so remote and I think if we do what we have to do then it’s immaterial if people recognise us or not,” he expressed in an exclusive interview with The Morung Express.
He felt that “if we do what we have to do then it gets picked up” while also acknowledging that they have so many well-wishers and people who have come forward from various angles to support their work.
As a response to COVID-19, the Eleutheros Christian Society has been running 4 COVID Care Centres with 300 beds and a flu surveillance campaign in two districts and has also provided 183 oxygen concentrators in 8 districts and 200,000 N-95 masks to frontline workers in 11 districts.
According to the information given on the World Economic Forum website, ECS has also trained volunteers on COVID-19 management and on vaccination, distributed rations to 6,000 pregnant and lactating mothers since March 2020, and further provided rations to daily wage earners, migrant workers and the elderly.
The World Economic Forum had also noted that “at a time when mainstream support systems have been overwhelmed, social entrepreneurs have stepped up to fill the gaps, especially in hard-to-reach poor or rural communities. This list was created to keep the spotlight on the vital work they are doing to ensure those at-risk are not left behind, and to distil key lessons for other regions battling new waves of infection.”
The Last Mile Responder Initiative Goals included raising awareness about the vital work of social entrepreneurs, creating a sense of urgency around an inclusive, green recovery and connecting social entrepreneurs to critical partners and supporters.
In this regard, an interactive dialogue on “Carving the Path to an Inclusive Recovery” will also be held on August 12, 2021. During this event, the Last Mile Responders will be joined by high-level public and private and sector executives to unpack what it take to build an inclusive, resilient post-pandemic reality.
For those interested in joining the interactive dialogue on inclusive recovery on August 12, 2021, they can register on https://www.linkedin.com/events/ 6827846462244696064/. More works of Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS) can be found on their website: ecstuensang.org.
