Narek Sirakanyan, participant of the competition “Leaders of Russia. Politics”, started a campaign within the framework of the Russian project #WEARETOGETHER.
The goal of the #WAITATHOME campaign, which was organized by the Freedom International Group President Narek Sirakanyan in May 2020, is to support Russian citizens who were abroad on their birthday and were unable to return home on time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty people in 15 different countries (Hong Kong, Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Fiji, France) have received a transfer of 14 583 rubles to their cards: 23 people spent this money on rental accommodation, 18 - on food, 4 - on medical care, and 3 on other needs.
The project #WEARETOGETHER is a campaign on the federal level. The initial idea was to provide support to senior citizens, people with limited mobility, and medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the project was scaled up in various spheres of public life and attracted a lot of Russian people who are ready to help those in a difficult life situation.
“Everyone wants to believe in miracles on their birthday, and such a miracle has happened to us,” says Tatyana Tarelkina, currently in India.
“This is perfectly admirable: the ability to come and help a complete stranger,” says Alexander Mizin, also in India.
“The Freedom Group team noticed the large number of messages on social networks from those Russian citizens, who could not return home, people who were in a state of panic and total hopelessness. So, we took literally the slogan of The Russian Foreign Ministry “No one will be left behind”, and reacted to messages from those who were running out of money”, says Narek Sirakanyan, the President of Freedom International Group. “The sum of 14,583 rubles is the result of multiplying the minimum wage by 20.22%. This figure was not chosen by chance: we hope that by 2022 the minimum wage will be increased by at least 20.22% in Russia. I believe that we can help each other every day, and I believe that businesses will support these important projects in the future.”