Nikola Taragoš on NGO response to COVID-19 in the Czech Republic: We're trying to prevent things from getting worse

The next guest in our series of interviews with figures actively involved in aiding others during this state of emergency in the Czech Republic is Nikola Taragoš, the program director of the Romodrom organization. Romodrom offers educational and social services to people at risk of social exclusion in nine regions throughout the country.

“We are continuing to work despite the state of emergency. We provide our services in nine regions of the Czech Republic. We are concentrating on acquiring and distributing protective gear and basic groceries to our clients, which means especially in socially excluded localities,” Taragoš said in an interview for ROMEA TV.

During the state of emergency the organization is doing its best to aid its clients with addressing their financial situations or communicating with authorities in order to prevent a further deterioration of the situations in these families. They are also beginning to arrange for Internet connections into excluded localities so they can be in communication with their clients and make online education accessible to their children.

“In the area of communications we have discovered big barriers, and for that reason we are setting up communications capabilities, whether that is by facilitating Internet connections in the excluded localities, installing routers, or providing people data cards. We are also focusing on humanitarian aid in excluded localities, which means grocery deliveries. We are also working on making the system of support for our clients more effective when it comes to children’s education and how they spend their recreational time at home. We are doing our best to do all of this while we keep an eye on people’s safety, wearing protective gear, and if possible, communicating in a way that does not require personal contact,” he explained in the interview.