Virtual Family Gathering # 1: Staying Lively and Challenging
It has been more than half a year of Work From Home and online lectures using the Shift model run by a large family of the Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences UII. At first, pandemics create anxiety, worry, and even fear. It has been a long time since FPSB residents have seen each other, only through online screens. All of this was done to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 by taking care of each other, still wearing a mask, keeping your distance, and washing your hands with soap in running water.
In order to support the efforts of the Covid-19 Mitigation Team of the UII Covid-19 Task Force, the FPSB UII Family Gathering Committee held an online FPSB UII 2020 family meeting on Saturday (19/12) online. The goal is an effort to strengthen the relationship between the FPSB UII community because they have never met offline since the pandemic broke out in Yogyakarta.
Through the Zoom Application, all FPSB UII academicians gathered that morning. The event was opened with the reading of divine kalam, followed by remarks from the Dean of the FPSB UII, Fuad Nashori. After that, the video shows competitions, games, and door prizes. Interestingly, even though the Family Gathering this time was using a virtual method, the excitement was still felt.
The committee, from the start, also challenged all academicians of the FPSB UII to record a video of the excitement of their family with the Stay at home Challenge. Videos depict fun and family activities and activities. In various forms, it turned out that the videos were collected on the committee’s table. There are videos of cooking activities, learning the Quran, cleaning the mosque, riding, eating together, and some even playing tiktok videos.
Apart from being lively, reflections and sharing experiences between families are also enlightening. For example, there is a special time to tell stories from the families of FPSB UII staff and lecturers who are exposed to covid-19. How do they get through it, the obstacles, and the efforts to overcome them.
The majority of participants felt the excitement of this event even though they followed it online. For example Erdina Trisna, Staff of the FPSB Journal and Publication Unit, “First time participating, and following online. The event was fun, entertaining from video footage of the family frantically.”
Not only that, he also felt that he had gained new knowledge from the experiences of fathers, mothers, or families of Zoom Meeting Family Gathering participants who were exposed to Covid-19.
In line with that, Putri Asriyani, Staff of the Center for Study and Documentation of Alternative Media (PSDMA) NADIM Communications, FPSB UII, said that this is the first time experiencing family meetings online. “The festivities are different, still festive.”
