Campaign from San Diego manages to gather help to buy protection materials for reporters on the border exposed to COVID-19

Octavio Fabela, a renowned journalist from Tijuana, Mexico, went out to report on the street after two months of working from home – a measure he took to evade the spread of COVID-19 since the diseases he suffers from could cause an infection to spread. to be lethal.

“I suffer from the four most vulnerable conditions before COVID 19, but thanks to our colleagues from San Diego [en California]Today I can go out to work with my protection team, “Fabela told La Opinion.

He went out with masks, gloves, antibacterial gel and, in case he needs it, he also has a transparent mask.

“Due to the nature of our work, we are in constant contact with society and vulnerable groups,” he said.

“The truth is I am very grateful to our colleagues for all this team [que nos dieron]”With which he can now perform with some confidence, commented the journalist known as” Rabanito “, because as a child he was a redhead.

Fabela is just one of dozens of journalists who today have protective equipment to continue their journalistic work on the streets of Tijuana, some in Rosarito and others in Tecate and Mexicali.

A loss, the breaking point

Sandra Dibble, a journalist who has covered Baja California in the San Diego Union Tribune since 1994, discussed how the idea of ​​helping reporters south of the border was born.

An experienced Mexicali reporter, Moisés Márquez, lost his life as a victim of COVID-19 on May 8. At that time, Tijuana began to register a clear increase in infections and the pandemic came more clearly.

“I knew him from his days as a reporter for the newspaper La Crónica and his death affected me a lot,” said Sandra Dibble.

Sandra Dibble told how the idea of ​​this aid project was born.

For her part, reporter Wendy Fry, who now regularly covers Tijuana, told her of her fears that some independent reporters south of the border could catch the
coronavirus.

“I saw how hard my friends and colleagues worked in Tijuana and how stressed they were by having to buy equipment to protect themselves and they were struggling to find it on their own,” Fry told La Opinion.

He commented that in the United States there are more protections for journalists. Although still with equipment, it is a risky job, the means generally help to reduce the risk by covering part of the costs and providing masks.

“I told Sandra that I was concerned that some free reporters [freelancers] they had to choose between leaving without protection or rejecting jobs that they so badly needed, ”said Fry. “We were really motivated to do something when our Mexicali colleague died.”

N95 masks and also felt and antibacterial mouth guards were delivered in ziploc bags.

Union make force

The next morning, Sandra Dibble opened a GoFundMe account and asked the public to please help raise funds to get facemasks and equipment for reporters in Tijuana and Baja California.

“I proposed to raise $ 2,000, but in less than a week we already had $ 2,900,” said Dibble. “I was very touched by the speed with which people gave. One person donated $ 500; others gave $ 5, whatever they could … They wanted to help the reporters. “

The San Diego reporters purchased equipment, KN-95 and surgical masks; in addition to gloves.

Sandra Dibble and other volunteers met at the home of the communicator Sonia de Anda, leader of the organization Yo Sí Soy Periodista – which gathers reporters from both sides of the border – to pack ziploc bags, packages with the protection team .

Days later, De Anda announced that he would be in a parking lot for a couple of hours to deliver his respective team to interested reporters.

Aid was a remarkable change. Manuel Ayala, an independent journalist, said that the project “was very supportive, because at the beginning when the pandemic hit, we couldn’t get equipment. Everything was exhausted and we had to work as we could ”.

Sonia de Anda recalled that Ayala, among many other reporters, “had to cover information in hospitals [con enfermos] of COVID-19, in pantheons where more and more victims of the pandemic were buried, and colleagues worked with felt masks [un material de tela prensada] they were not a guarantee of protection. ”

He added that the protective material was out of stock in Baja California and some pharmacies that still had KN95 masks sold them for more than 150 pesos – about $ 7.50 – which in Tijuana does weaken the economy of reporters.

With the equipment that Sandra Dibble and Wendy Fry bought, they put together 75 packages with different endowments depending on the risk level of each reporter.

“We gave 10 KN95, five N95 and 10 felt masks and two gel bottles to those who walk the most and cover risky situations such as having to cover hospitals; To colleagues who worked more from home or who were not taking as much risk, we gave them less equipment but we did not leave anyone unprotected, ”De Anda recalled.

The reporter Manuel Ayala.
Reporter Octavio Fabela said he was calmer with the equipment received.

Manuel Ayala said he felt the change by being able to leave protected to work, “it gives you more confidence and allows you to function better.”

Carlos Moreno, a freelance photographer of dual nationality who lives in Tijuana, recalled that before that help, “he talked with some colleagues about how we had to work without even having the minimum protection equipment.”

When asking Sandra Dibble about her motivations, she immediately remembered the journalist Moisés Márquez, but also said that she acted out of “respect, affection and admiration for the work my colleagues undertake, day after day. Many times without recognition ”.

“I know how much they love their profession, but I also know that they take risks. The great danger has always been drug trafficking. This [la pandemia] it’s a new kind of danger, “he said.

Wendy Fry said the plan turned out to be a great success with much support from people who care about reports and reporters in this region.

“I think hopefully this experience will possibly lead to other projects between reporters on both sides of the border.”

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