All it needed was a call from a friend to Pedro Castro, the administrator of the Facebook group ISTAS, to put the idea into motion. After a chat with a couple of potential frontline entities in the fight against covid-19, it was soon obvious that the initiative would be welcome and really useful. An appeal followed on the aforementioned social network and “ISTAS” and partners soon began signing up: “We're at a standstill, and the motor homes are available”.
Thus, in mid-March, the “ISTAR against covid-19” movement emerged, which currently has 35 motor homes on the ground to support healthcare professionals, fire brigades and other members of the population who need them to spend the night, rest or isolate themselves from people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In addition, another 35 emergency-use vans are now ready to be put into service to replace those being used or to meet any increase in demand, with a total of around 300 such vehicles registered in the movement's database. The vehicles are parked in the grounds of several hospitals including Vila Nova de Gaia and Braga, among others, and at a number of fire stations, mainly in the north and centre of the country, with which agreements have been entered into for the free supply of the equipment. These agreements are valid throughout the State of Emergency and may be renewed thereafter in accordance with the respective partners' needs and availability.
So what is this movement that has arisen from civil society? The Istars are a private group of almost 17,000 campers, caravanners and motorhomers, fans of this way of living and going on holiday (among other likes) in the heart of nature. The group has been on Facebook since 2012 and uses the platform to communicate, exchange ideas and share relevant information on what they call “open-air hospitality”. They have several partners, including Galp, which have also helped them in this charitable project that has seen them travel more than 10,000 kilometres to bring their motorhomes to where they are most needed. “If people don't change for the better in this pandemic, then it will all have been a waste of time. I want to believe that our way of being and particularly of viewing others will change. We've seen so many organisations and people with a genuine sense of civic duty”, says Pedro Castro, the mentor of the movement, who is “overjoyed that we have managed to do what we are doing”.