 |
By Ashura Kayupayupa
The coronavirus pandemic undoubtedly brought the world to its knees, revealing who are pragmatic leaders and who are not. Recall when many African leaders would go to Europe for medical checkup and treatment. Due to corona, virtually no one was able to do so at least for the last three months. That meant they would have to be treated in their own countries.
But what is the state of their health care systems? Take the case of Burundi, for example. One source estimated it to have 12 ventilators with 988,818 persons per ventilator. Now, the former president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, is dead from cardiac arrest with some sources claiming it was probably due to coronavirus. It was also reported that his wife had to be taken to Kenya for medical treatment. How about ordinary citizens in Burundi who cannot afford to just go to another country to get better treatment?
Despite all the challenges, such as unequal health care systems, abject poverty, deaths, economic uncertainty, and the un-proportionate fear instilled by the media, that have been revealed by coronavirus, there are some positives. Some people have changed their lifestyles for the better. For instance, they eat greens these days to boost their immune system. The pandemic has also helped nature to heal in so many ways, including making some people more spiritual, humane and mindful of the environment and others.
Coronavirus has proved that human beings only need basics needs, that is, food, clothing, and shelter. All material things in life are not necessary, not even during a pandemic. For those of us who have been able to live on basic items during quarantines, it should be possible to do so in our everyday life.
The pandemic has also help restore empathy among human beings. It has shown to us that we have a shared fear of death and uncertainty. As such, the availability of functioning health care systems is a paramount need and right for all across the world.
My previous story was about how corona separated my child from me. Now I have been reunited with my child after two months and a half apart. It was not easy when I did not know when exactly I would see my daughter again. I was facing the uncertainty of the migration bureaucratic system, but also the pandemic itself that caused closure of borders.
A child deserves both parents when they can be together. I believe the person who works for the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration empathized with our situation and helped us as a family to be together again sooner. I cannot thank enough the person who worked on my residency application for making it possible within a short time for me to now be with my family. Usually, the application process can take at least 15 months, but mine took a few weeks. I cannot complain that my journey from Tanzania to Norway took four days and involved changing four planes and with five transits because I fully understand how the coronavirus pandemic disrupted everything we thought we know.
Are there people who are still asking when would things get back to normal? What was so normal and do we want to go back there? Shouldn’t we continue with the new normal that coronavirus has taught us?
