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This is my story of taking care of groceries, shopping, purchase of supplies, food delivery & more with MyKuya’s Super App!
Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)
The on-going pandemic has been easy for none of us. Apart from the constant worry about the virus, millions around the Philippines are now also having to deal with the fact that their movements are restricted in the face of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Confined to our homes for an uncertain period of time, I’m among those who first didn’t know how they’d cope. As a solid urbanite, going out was my lifeline: how was I supposed to go out and get groceries? Medicine? Would I be forced to *gasp* cook my every meal?
Luckily, MyKuya is the super app with just the answer for all of that.
ECQ with MyKuya
How MyKuya works is that the app matches you with nearby Kuyas or Ates who can run basic errands for you for a reasonable fee. This can be anything from picking up an item from a store down to lining up at the bank for you. Some of their most popular services right now are grocery delivery, personal shopping and personal assistants who can do tasks on a motorbike.
This would already be quite useful in a normal state of affairs — but during ECQ, it turns from useful into crucial.
Of course, I just had to download it to see for myself!
9:AM Coffee Delivery
After downloading the MyKuya app, I was wondering how long before I’d start to feel its usefulness.
It didn’t take long. Working from home like I do, it can be hard to concentrate and sometimes what you need is that perfect steaming cup of joe to finally get you going in the morning.
Since it would’ve been hard for me to go out on my own, I booked a Kuya through the app. His first task was to search for the nearest cafe still operating. He stood in line for me, placed my order and was at my doorstep in no time!
Without leaving my own home and having to take time off work, I got the boost to productivity that I so badly needed.
10AM: Paying the Bills
Bills, bills, bills!
Despite everything going on, the bills don’t exactly stop coming and it’s not as if you can just ignore it. Take my Meralco electricity bill, for instance as it was past its due date and only could be paid in Meralco’s branches. It’s absolutely crucial to me working from home and having my service cut off would be disastrous.
If it was a hassle to line up and pay bills before, it’s doubly hard now with the numerous checkpoints brought on by ECQ.
That’s why after getting my cup of coffee, I kindly asked Kuya to get the bills paid for me. What’s nice about the app is that if you’re a power user like me, you can actually have one Kuya do multiple tasks for you in one day!
All I had to do was give them my payment, and they’d do the lining up at the payment center for me.
Thus, I get the peace of mind that my bills are paid on time and life can (as much as possible) continue as normal.
11AM: Delivery via Motorbike
Like I said above, some things must still go on despite the ECQ.
In my case, this means clients for my business still kept coming and coming. Though I’m glad business is booming, this presented a whole new dilemma: how do you accomplish a contract signing when you’re really supposed to just stay home?
With the suspension of taxis and other public transportation I myself couldn’t zip across town to get the document to my client, but Kuyas on their handy motorcycles can do the deed in a zip.
After paying my bills, Kuya asked if there was anything else he could do for me and the idea popped into my head to ask him to make a delivery. Less than an hour later I already got a text message from my client saying it was reviewed and duly signed. Wow!
12PM: Meal delivery
Living alone and in an urban environment has led me to become increasingly reliant on takeout and delivery.
Though ECQ has led me to the wonders of following recipes via YouTube, it really is true that food tastes better when prepared by someone else.
I craved a burger and there was no way around it.
With the few delivery services open being so busy because of increased demand for delivery, sometimes your best bet is simply lining up the old fashioned way.
But since I couldn’t possibly brave the long lines and take precious time off of work just for a burger, I got Kuya to do it for me instead as he worked his way back from delivering my contract.
The best part about their service is that they’ll even find workarounds so you get what you want — when my first choice of a restaurant was closed, Kuya readily found an alternative!
1PM: Food delivery
Yet one cannot subsist on a diet of takeout burgers alone. I needed variety in my diet.
It’s embarrassing to admit but I did not stock up on nearly enough actual meat and vegetables during my last grocery run.
As a solution, I also asked Kuya to pick some prepackaged meat up from some of the food chains now selling frozen food while he was out.
Though it did take me some time to cook and turn it into a halfway decent meal, I couldn’t have gotten that far without MyKuya!
2PM: A Quick Pharmacy Run
In the time of a pandemic, perhaps there’s nowhere that’s more crowded than your local pharmacy.
Given the long lines and sheer mass of people, I wanted to avoid having to buy medicine as much as possible. But late afternoon I got struck with a sharp headache.
I wrestled with the idea of waiting it out before deciding it just wasn’t worth it. After all, I had MyKuya with me!
Coming back from his run outside, Kuya agreed I needed medicine. Kuya braved the long lines and got me medicine just before the store closed for the day! All I had to do was wait and I had enough medicine to last me the duration of a week.
You can hardly put a price on that sort of peace of mind.
3PM: Grocery Delivery
Alas, one side effect of always being home is mercilessly raiding the fridge. My once well-stocked inventory turned into cobwebs and empty space.
I would have liked to make a trip to the grocery store myself but I had a very important video call with a client taking up the latter part of the afternoon.
It was after his pharmacy run when I decided to reach out to Kuya once more.
Kuya once again braved the long lines to make sure I got just what I needed.
I just snapped a photo of my shopping list, sent it across via in-app chat & that was it!
He was even nice enough to give me change down to the last centavo.
Yet that isn’t all I appreciate. From the supermarket right to my doorstep, Kuya told me all about how they managed to practice social distancing the whole time. Now that’s service!
5PM: Online shopping
Living through a pandemic, it’s understandable if you feel the need to treat yourself once in a while.
At the end of the day, I succumbed to an impulse purchase on Facebook Marketplace. I didn’t consider that it needed to be picked up, which begged the question of how I’d get the item without leaving my home?
Feeling slightly guilty, I asked Kuya to see if they could possibly have it picked it up for me. One last job.
Thankfully, not only was Kuya’s answer a resounding “Yes!” but they also let me know doing so wasn’t a problem at all.
In just a few minutes, I got my item and service with a smile!
. . .
MyKuya, The Community and You
By now it’s hopefully clear just how useful MyKuya’s Super App can be for super users during the ECQ.
During a crisis such as this, users like the one above are turning into our app just to get multiple tasks done and survive their day-to-day. MyKuya gives people the peace of mind that they need in order to remain strong for the duration of the lockdown.
But it isn’t just about the customers either. The Ates and Kuyas on our app are here 100% voluntarily, with many of them doing so to stay employed amidst the lockdown. Furthermore, MyKuya also works with numerous Enterprise Partners to ensure that our people are properly protected: masks, sanitizers, and alcohol are all provided when they go out and do their jobs.
Through its service, MyKuya aims to fulfill two goals. The first is to make life a little bit easier for everyone. The second is to provide gainful employment to as many people who need it.
Help MyKuya help you. Help MyKuya help your community.
For more information & inquiries visit https://mykuya.com or contact us at hello@mykuya.com