by Archie Camps

“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant.”

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It was March 16 I went to the office lobby early to claim the BCM laptop, when we were preparing for a possible lockdown. When I entered the IT room, people were quietly setting up, with many company PC’s and laptops already lined up for possible disposal. I reckoned that the company was already bracing itself for something that was unpredictable – something that can change the way it conducts its operations, and ultimately, something that was beyond the normal. It’s indeed one of the most crucial times in the history of REPH – a symbol of how it shows its resilience and culture of competence that has molded its core as an organization.

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Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. I remember again such words from a memoir realizing the first day when indeed, I’ve started working from home. All of the efforts were aimed towards survival. The first days would want to answer the question of whether or not we will be able to do work from home because the situation was hugely uncertain. We can only hope and do our best.

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While I’m writing this, I’ve been thinking of my work life before pandemic. I was accustomed to going to the office every morning before the sun rises, and when it does it was important to have breakfast time and interact with office friends in person. It has always been an essential experience to me: to interact, to listen, and to tell my stories in front of others in order to say that my workday was complete. Working from home during these trying times has made me realize how I value those moments that bring out the best of my working days, and I honestly miss those. Being distant from the office is like having this uncertainly as to when we are coming back.

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Now, I’m staying home with my family, and it’s a brand new working experience. I used to wake up at 4am, with or without an alarm clock, when I used to wake up prepare for work. At 5am I was supposed to be in the car on the road with my mom, talking about to arrive at the office early and not to be late at 6am, when my shift used to start. Now at 4am, I wake up to pick up some personal readings and to get my tablet to read the news. At 6am, I prepare just about everything, breakfast included, as the sun rises and before everyone in the house wakes up. My work shift has been modified as well to start at 8am, so that communication to my other teammates in the mid shift will remain good.

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Interaction with my team mates has felt like a long distance relationship, with me having to use Teams, or the Zoom app to be able to see how they are doing. It was not until I’ve noticed that some team mates have already been growing their beards that I knew that it’s been a while since. Life indeed has changed in the instant!

I think financial, technological and logistical resources has never been used by REPH to this extent that allow us to do our job with the expected quality from the four corners of our home. It’s an incredible work of innovation, and deserves utmost appreciation. It’s also indeed a product of our ingenuity to make it all work in a very short period of time in order go through the uncertainly of the pandemic with a simple wifi connection at home. Every Teams or Zoom meetings, every email we sent reflects the fact that we have the ability to think out of the box, to be able to bring work at home as a response to the pandemic.

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REPH remains to value it’s people even during these trying times. Not only that it’s an opportunity to do work from home, but it protects us from Covid-19. Being the source of that opportunity, the company cares for the well-being of it’s people. As we embrace the “new normal,” we remain resilient, creative, and compassionate to each other, while contributing to the society to stay safe at home, and also to save lives.