About US

We don’t believe 2020 can just be defined as the ‘year of the pandemic’. It’s an epic time, made up of different experiences. The purpose of this website is to document and share a million stories of a unique year – for now and for the future.

Humansof2020.com is a community that began with a personal story of loss.

In July 2020, I lost my mother to Covid-19 while she was in India. Unable to travel, we watched the funeral via video from Dubai, together with many loved ones from across the world. As it happened, I felt deep sorrow that I could not be with my mum and dad during her final days. Still, I felt deeply connected to my family in a way I had not before. We prayed and grieved together every day, connected and reached out to each other more, and began healing together. We held a service for her online, our friends and family from across the world joined us to celebrate her life; many shared their memories. It filled my heart with joy to know how much mum was loved, the many lives she touched and the incredible legacy she leaves behind.

My mum may have passed thinking she lived an ordinary life, but I know from my experience and the stories others shared what an extraordinary life mum lived. In late September and as the lockdown was lifted, I met a small group of friends over dinner. One young lady emphatically stated – “I’ve written 2020 off.” That struck a nerve. I knew at that time that if we were to ignore 2020, we’d be losing out on a huge opportunity to remind ourselves, we’ve lived through an extraordinary time and found a way to make it through. In time, perhaps we can be proud to look back and see our extraordinary lives. That’s how humansof2020.com was born – a platform to share seemingly familiar stories, but ones that may extraordinarily touch another.

Here are a few of my experiences. I lost my mum but connected more deeply with my family. My husband discovered he had leadership skills that he never knew he possessed. We found more joy in simple things. We were astonished to find out we could live on literally half of what we were spending before the pandemic. We started eating healthier. The teachers at my kids’ school became wizards at using technology. Our clients became more respectful. We saw stingrays and large shoals of other fish gamboling in the undisturbed marina. My husband and I took the time to figure what we were really good at – and set some goals to work that into a social enterprise. 

So here we are now, with a choice to write off 2020 or use it to make a difference for the future. I choose the latter, and I hope you’ll join me.

Bettina Tauro
Founder, Humansof2020.com