UNBELIEBTE MEINUNG

 The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

Dear world,

This virus has decided to stay longer than we previously thought. We are possibly never reverting back to normal, and honestly, I am not sure if it is a bad thing. This season has been onerous on most people. It is offering a great opportunity for self-reflection. The moment you start questioning everything you know two things will happen. You may adapt and grow or you can breakdown and never recover. Despite the challenges, I would wish to enjoy my everyday life. “You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

 Most of what we do and how we act is through socialization and often we take in a lot of poor practices. We must closely examine ourselves to learn from past errors. and avoid repetition. Some errors that have come to light in this season are:

1. Believing my job is better than yours

I love how this pandemic has led to the realization that every job matters and just because I directly do not feel your impact it does not mean the role played is insignificant. For example, who knew the key to infection control and prevention would be the security officer, the watchman? The person whom on most days you used to swiftly dismiss as you hurriedly rushed home or to your work station. The person whom you thought was below you and you could not even spare greeting them. The person whom you never thought to invest in terms of knowledge of hygienic practices. Bitter pill to swallow, right? Better yet that wonderful housekeeping staff who ensures the surfaces and corridors are clean. The people where in most cases have never been provided with protective gear except for their uniforms. The majority of them have nothing to shield them from the disease. Have you ever taken the time to read the ingredients contained in their cleaning solutions? Some of them are very toxic and have lifelong effects and yet few take that into consideration. Have you noticed that especially in some government institutions they also provide tea to the other team members yet again no investment in knowledge of infection control and prevention practices is placed? I hope we can now see how we have been setting ourselves up for failure. "Conceit is God’s gift to little men."Bruce Barton

2. Mimicking limits invention

 We are learning the hard way that not every information generated should be applied. There is a great need for us to develop independent thinking while continuously being inquisitive. This leads to exploring our own ways of developing solutions to problems. For instance, despite this illness being new within our African context did we openly question the use of HCQ and Arithromycin before pumping them down our patients' throats. "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." Henry Ford

3. Greed above everything

 We are being forced to acknowledge just how broken our systems are. We have been forced to realize how our greed in different institutions will lead to our death first before we enjoy our lives and " those profits" we are trying to generate. In the past, we have seen the wealthy move across the world in search of quality health services while leaving the poor to fend for themselves. It is ironic how just this pandemic is, no country is spared,  deaths keep occurring all around us and the funniest bit even if you set up intensive care units in your own home it doesn't guarantee you get out of it alive.

 The pandemic has reiterated that as humans we are often an ungrateful bunch. Unless something is serving our own best interest we are not ready to help. When was the last time you willingly offered to help someone? Not through coercion or a reminder to be humane but through taking personal initiative and actively searching for this person or persons and providing whatever little or much that you had. “If money is your only measure of success, do not be surprised when it is all you have.”Wayne Gerard Trotman

We should not be quick to write off this season we should look at it as an opportunity to learn to do better and be better towards our treatment of each other.“It's not the most advanced society we should be aiming to build that only cares for efficiency, rather our aim should be to build a healthy society with the right amount of advancement and a whole lot of humaneness.”

Abhijit Naskar