Have we learned?
After the emergence of this deadly pandemic into our world, we were forced to disrupt our usual flurry of activities. In order to fight the spread of the virus, governments went on total lockdowns with movement restricted to only desperate and necessary needs. Schools were closed and people were given a grace period to go home. With the implementation of lockdowns in various countries, people were forced to remain in their current residences. Borders were shut and flights canceled. Streets that were famously known to be brimming with people were now desolate.
Just as those that fought before us, it was now our turn to do our level best to fight this virus. However, our already struggling economy could not bear the burden of total lockdown. Instead, a dusk to dawn curfew was issued as an alternative. With the subsequent brutal enforcement of the directive, many went to social media to voice their disappointment saying, “Serekali ya Kenya ni ya kwanza kugundua kwamba COVID huangamiza watu usiku pekee” (The Kenyan government is the first to discover that COVID only attacks at night). However, many of them did not realize that the government had already foreseen that with our economy struggling to find its footing in an already extremely competitive market, a total lockdown was simply not practical.
In a matter of a few weeks, Wanjiku was forced to choose between a fight against the new virus or poverty. Wanjiku was left to hinge her survival on philanthropic individuals. With the virus showing no signs of abetting, Wanjiku was forced to risk her health as she often had done in the past to ensure she did not die of hunger. This is the sad reality shared by many who live in developing nations around the world. One may be right in posing the question, why? Why is it happening in a knowledgeable globalized society we live in currently? What can we do to change this reality?
For decades, developed nations have often adopted and sustained a “big brother” relationship with developing nations. Developing countries have grown to be content with Grants and Aid from their big brothers with little regard to the Wanjiku in their country. These grants and aid money are often used to cushion the developing nations from various economic shocks whereas some of them go directly into the pockets of gluttonous individuals. Developed countries turn a blind eye to the latter. This relationship has contributed to comfortable laissez-faire with developing countries adopting a half-hearted attempt to climb up the economic ladder. It is high time that developing nations snapped out from their over-dependence on the developed countries who also happen to be former colonizers.
Business between the different nations tends to be viewed as a favor from the economically superior power to the less economically endowed country. It is often lost to many that developed countries often adopt strongarm tactics for their economic advantage. This often has little or no regard for benefits nor for developing nations to raise their economies to become global competitors.
The virus has highlighted the great disparity between the well-heeled and the impecunious within the society. Moreover, it has highlighted the relationship between health and wealth and how the have and have nots in the community are affected both in our society and in the world at large.
Will corona change the narrative between nations from a “how can we help you” to a “how can we mutually benefit”? Will there be a shift to ensure that developing nations can better safeguard the lives of the Wanjiku’s in their countries in times of economic turbulence? Will we rethink the strategies in place to ensure that people do not have to choose between death from a virus or hunger? Will developing nations emerge from this pandemic with more resilience that will cushion them from global shocks?
The real question is however, have we learned? Have we come to accept that every human life is precious regardless of their economic class? Have we learned that disaster will strike and we need preparedness to buffer the common good of the people? Have we learned that we do not have to wait until disaster strikes before displaying our philanthropic personalities? Unless developing nations adopt an accountable, transparent self-sustaining mode with less dependence on the developed world, the lessons of this pandemic will be wasted. In this sad case, the economic potential of the developing nations will remain unachieved and Wanjiku will continue to choose between two miserable deaths.
