Masaryk University’s volunteer center continues to expand and respond to the challenges of the coronavirus. From vaccination efforts to support for the elderly, students from MUNI remain active at the frontline of tackling the pandemic. Photo Credit: KB / BD.
Brno, Feb 22 (BD) – The volunteer programme at Masaryk University (MUNI) has been steadily growing in numbers since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Regardless of academic workload and the ever-present dismay about the evolving epidemiological and social situation, students are continuing to join the programme. Volunteers from the university are working on several fronts, trying to respond to the different challenges posed by the virus.
There are currently 4,470 volunteers signed up to MUNI’s Volunteer Center, and 2,950 requests for help have been processed. To improve coordination between volunteers, the university has developed the MUNI POMÁHÁ app, in cooperation with the MUNI Institute of Computer Science.
30 students from the MUNI Faculty of Medicine are taking turns in shifts in the vaccination center at the Brno Exhibition Center, which is still not working at full capacity. However, medical and pharmacy students are not the only ones involved. MUNI students are also providing tutoring, support for the elderly, and legal counsel, and producing protective equipment for health professionals.
Jiří Němec, Chairman of the Student Chamber of the MUNI Academic Senate, while appreciative of the involvement of university students in volunteering their assistance, notes that the students are tackling issues not addressed by the government: “I really appreciate it and I admire it. And not only involvement under the auspices of MUNI, but also purely personal initiatives and individual acts. However, I am a great critic of myself. Of course, we cannot confuse unmanaged crisis management by the state with the actual performance of such work. For all this, the students deserve great respect,” said Němec.
Ultimately, the goal of MUNI POMÁHÁ is to provide enough volunteers for all vaccination centers in the region.
