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Fighting coronavirus isolation over the phone

  • April 21, 2020

“Can you lend me your ear, Ellen?” That is the way most conversations between Ellen Ladnorg and Susanna Henkel begin. Although both women live in Berlin, the majority of those conversations take place on the telephone. Susanna Henkel has lung disease and she has also been caring for her husband, Klaus, since he had a stroke some nine years ago.

Henkel, who leaves her apartment only to buy groceries, tells DW — also by telephone — that Ladnorg is “a ray of light in the darkness.” Now that the coronavirus is changing life so dramatically, they talk with one another almost every evening and have a standing date around 6 p.m. Ladnorg says she wants to make sure her friend is doing all right.

Read more: Stories from quarantine: ‘I’m actually doing incredibly well,’ says 81-year-old

The two women got into contact five years ago with the help of the Malteser Hilfedienst, a Catholic aid organization. Ellen Ladnorg had already been working with the group for years. She and fellow volunteers had established a project called “Time to Talk” (Redezeit), a program designed to let volunteers make regular calls with people to offer them comfort and to ease their loneliness where needed.

One day, 69-year-old Susanna Henkel read about the program in the newspaper and called to sign up. Since then, she and Ladnorg have been regularly phoning two or three times a week. “Sometimes, depending on how difficult things are, we talk for up to an hour. But on other days we just chat for a couple of minutes — we just say hi and let one another know how we are doing,” as Ladnorg tells DW.

A job with responsibilities

Ladnorg, who is 73, has a steady voice and an open gaze. She is fully aware of the responsibility that she has taken on. “We often have volunteers who start off strong, but then we never hear from them again. That is really awful for the elderly people we help. They think they must have done something wrong, and they begin to feel insecure,” says Ellen Ladnorg. She says volunteers “have to approach this from the heart. They have to listen to what people are telling them.”

Susanna Henkel’s voice becomes shaky at times as she tells DW about the difficulties she has in life. She says her weekly conversations with Ladnorg give her a sense of continuity, as well as providing a window to the outside world.

Read more: Coronavirus in Germany: Music at a distance brings Berlin street together

At times her husband, Klaus, can be heard in the background angrily interjecting into our conversation. “A stroke changes a person,” she says, almost apologetically. She says he is normally in an adult day-care facility three times a week, but the coronavirus pandemic has made that impossible right now. She says her husband has not been out of the house for more than a month, and the situation is taking its toll on her. Then she perks up and says: “But it makes me happy when Ellen calls. I really miss it if we can’t talk.”

Ellen Ladnorg works as a volunteer for the German branch of Malteser International

A smile one feels through the phone

If Ladnorg knows she won’t be able to call because she is traveling, for instance, she always lets Henkel know ahead of time. To make up for her absence, she sends postcards. And if she goes out to dinner with friends, Henkel asks where she went and how the food was the next time they talk.

“My calls and postcards connect her to the outside world in some ways,” says Ladnorg, adding, “Susanna doesn’t have internet.” Throughout it all, Ladnorg says she never feels her connection to Henkel is a burden: “I can hear her smile on the other end of the line, and that is all the pay I need.”

The two had known each another for three years before they finally met in person. The meeting wasn’t planned, but necessitated by a medical emergency. Henkel had fallen and Ladnorg brought make-up and a change of clothes to the hospital for her. When Henkel was released, she and her husband went out for an ice cream with Ladnorg.

Henkel says the coronavirus pandemic gets her down sometimes. But then, Ladnorg reminds her of that trip to the ice cream parlor, telling her: “We’ll do it again when this is all over. You and Klaus and I will go out, and we’ll get the biggest ice cream we can find.”  

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    On your marks, get set …

    After a month of life under lockdown, Germans are regaining a few freedoms. But they are doing so in patchwork fashion. The 16 individual states are responsible for lifting their lockdowns. The biggest change is that all shops under 800 square meters (8,610 square feet) are allowed to open their doors from April 20. But shoppers in some states — such as Berlin — will have to wait a little longer.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Getting out and about

    Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), was one of the states to allow stores to open right away. Shoppers in Bonn appeared to take full advantage. NRW has also gone a baby-step further than other states, allowing large stores specializing in maternity products to open up.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    On your bike

    Cyclists looking for a new purchase were already lining up outside a bike shop in Dinslaken, NRW, after it reopened on Monday. Bike stores, bookstores and car dealerships throughout Germany are allowed to welcome customers again, no matter the shops’ size.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Back in business

    Store owners were just as delighted to welcome back customers, with some launching spring sales to try and tempt a few more inside. A lifestyle store in Ludwigsburg, Saxony-Anhalt, put up a banner reading, “We are back! Nice to see you again.”

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Back to school

    Pupils are slowly being allowed back in through school gates. The states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony are permitting older students to return on Monday for classes to prepare them for their school-leaving exams, as well as the tests themselves. Most areas of Germany are targeting May 4 as the day to open schools more widely, but Bavaria, one of the hardest hit states, will wait until May 11.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Zoos and museums to open doors

    Animals have had a month off as zoos and safari parks were closed by Germany’s lockdown. But some states are ready to allow visitors to return. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate are all permitting zoos to open to some extent. In these and other states people will be able to visit museums again.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Masks will become more prevalent

    Some people have been wearing masks out of choice, but in certain regions they will become a more common sight. There is no nationwide requirement to wear them, but some states are introducing one. From April people using busses and trains and going into shops in Saxony will need something to cover their noses and mouths. Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will follow with similar measures.

  • Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lifting of lockdown begins

    Keep your distance

    What won’t change are social distancing guidelines. No matter where they are, Germans are still being encouraged to keep 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) away from people they don’t live with. Stores that are reopening are marking this distance in various ways to help customers keep clear of one another.

    Author: Alex Matthews


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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/fighting-coronavirus-isolation-over-the-phone/a-53201966?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom

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