Faced with COVID; Solidarity and Resilience
It was a serene atmosphere. The sun had just emerged smiling through my window, whispering to me that a new day is here. I woke up and sat at the edge of my bed and buried my head in my hand and prayed.
I turned on the TV and slouched lazily into the sofa just to listen to the headlines. “There is a new virus found in China and the World Health Organisation has declared that all countries need to take precautionary measures to prevent it from spreading”, the news anchor announced. I was alarmed and sat straight hoping to listen to the rest of the story, however, I was running late for work and so I had to turn off the TV and go.
Upon reaching work, I broke the news to my colleagues not knowing the news had spread like wildfire and everyone was talking about it. However, we were not so scared because we thought China was far from Africa, Ghana so it wouldn’t hit us. We just discussed it in cliques but didn’t really believe that it’s even dangerous. After all, we’ve lived through so many other viruses like Malaria, Ebola, and Measles.
Not long afterwards, the news became dire; the World Health Organisation’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared it as a pandemic. He had always resisted the gargantuan task of being the carrier of bad news but this time he had no option but to go ahead and declare it with the last strength he had. He said, we are in a very difficult situation and we all need to show solidarity to ourselves if we want to fight this virus.
The virus swept across the world like wildfire and the whole world went to sleep albeit not peaceful. The world endured difficult times as bigger economies came to their knees while smaller countries bowed to the unseen virus.
Quickly, there was a need to come up with a vaccine that could help reduce the spread of the virus. At this moment, the old axiom, “Two heads are better than one” came to its maximum use. Scientists from all countries put their heads together and in a matter of a few months, they had developed a vaccine. Together we fall; divided we stand. The world stood together to fight, although this time not with arms and ammunition but with a vaccine against an unseen microscopic virus.
The sun has finally shone on the rubble after rain. Many countries have started lifting the lockdowns, businesses were popping up, and new ways of doing things have emerged. Scarcity is the mother of invention. A lot of businesses had to be done via the Internet and we realised that we could be resilient even in extreme and adverse conditions. Thus, our ancestors had survived because they were resilient and able to adapt quickly to their environment.
The virus has not yet been completely eradicated but faced with this COVID, we have now emerged strongly as a people, of a common shared value that whatever we put our mind to we can achieve it and our diversity makes us unique in the face of adversity.
