A pair of family doctors in Wawa are using their shared love of music, theatre and comedy to put smiles on people's faces during the COVID-19 crisis.
The husband and wife team of Jami Shaffaf and husband Sean Robinson recently produced Don't Go Out (A Pandemic Story), a lighthearted video reinforcing the use of health measures, like staying at home and physical distancing, in the fight against the coronavirus.
“He and I have always wanted to do some kind of fun parody or silly video, and this just seemed like the right opportunity, right?” said Shaffaf. “People need to have a laugh right now and need some strong messaging, and we actually had the time to do it.”
The video depicts the couple coping with public health measures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, all to the tune of Don't Start Now by English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa.
The parodied lyrics acknowledge the boredom and frustration that comes with staying at home while encouraging people to keep up public health measures.
“We just really wanted to help people feel encouraged and motivated to stick with it, and try to keep looking for the bright side, and looking for the lightness in a situation,” Shaffaf said.
The couple, who have served family doctors at Wawa Family Health Team and Lady Dunn Health Centre for nearly two years, say they're blown away by the initial response to Don't Go Out.
“We didn’t know what to expect after we made it, you know? We’ve kind of become a little bit ‘Wawa famous’ since it’s been released,” Robinson said with a laugh.
“We thought it would be something fun to do that maybe our friends would get a kick out of, and we’ve really been humbled by the response,” Shaffaf added. “It’s been lovely to see that it’s put a smile on a lot of people’s faces, and really done what we hoped and help people keep going.”
