I have taken steps to mobilize myself and people I know within and outside of our San Luis Obispo, CA MKP community to become ready to react in a safe way to the changes and challenges that are taking place as the effects of the Corona virus sweep into my community.
Six areas that I am focusing on in my local MKP community:
- Create a system for sending out clear information and answering questions.
- Create safety for Elders and people at higher risk.
- Shift to Virtual Men’s meetings to keep our men’s meetings safe.
- Be of service in your local community during these challenging times.
- Offer the public a healthy alternative to isolation by inviting men to safe virtual open meetings.
- Put safe agreements into place to combat the spread of this virus.
More about each of these areas:
- Help to become a local communication coordinator in my MKP community to pass along clear information and guidelines. High risk people need to plan immediately for social distancing and social isolation.
- Coordinate and set up an email list of all the high risk Elders to stay in touch within my MKP community. We need to start planning immediately for social distancing and for a potentially long period of social isolation. This can extend out to help create neighborhood support networks for other high risk people in your neighborhoods.
- Coordinate virtual groups and support virtual group leaders to create a safe way to continue to provide a support system within virtual men’s meetings. So that we can continue working with our emotions, challenges, and missions during this pandemic.
- Coordinate and offer other options for MKP men to help in their communities. Work on these options as a group to determine how to implement them in the best way and to always consider high risk populations and how to minimize the spread of the virus while supporting them.
- Work on a plan to offer virtual MKP meetings to the public, to support more men during this time of isolation. This is an area that high risk people and Elders can offer service since we can do this safely on line and most of us already have some experience and training in this from being a part of this organization. I try to model healthy leadership by doing my own work and by sharing the leadership of the group with others.
- Mobilize my local MKP community to learn how to not spread the transmission of the virus and to stay safe. Find a way to pass along ways and agreements that will help us to stay safe and keep the spread of this virus to a minimum. I encourage working with our own personal agreements during the Warrior rounds of our meetings because my self-control and creation of new habits may be critical to keeping myself and my communities safe. This includes agreements of when and how often to wash my hands, when to wear gloves, such as filling my car’s gas tank or shopping, what surfaces to clean regularly, and other new habits I need support with.
Reuel Czach is a MKP elder living in San Luis Obispo, CA
