Life and Me... Memoirs of a church girl

I was particularly excited when I noticed that the messaging around preventing the spread of body fluid and potentially dangerous droplets were adjusted from face mask to tissue that should be disposed of immediately. The speed of disposal made all the difference for me because Africans generally don’t like the concept of disposal. A typical African home has an average of two items that are reused which are originally designed to be disposed of after one use. Further down the poverty line, you will see things like reused diapers and sanitary towels because these basic sanitary items are a luxury. I particularly had concerns when the first set of awareness videos around curbing the spread of droplets were videos on the proper use and disposal of face masks. I felt it will pose a problem because people are used to hanging such masks on their chins. Even I wasn’t aware there were specifications to the use and removal of face masks. As the numbers began to rise in Africa, it sta...

Today I want to focus on one of the scenarios of restricting social interaction with special emphasis to family settings. Based on several sources, roughly over 50% live on less than 2USD a day which is about 760 Naira a day. They have households with an average fertility rate of 5 children. This means they don't live in spaces where they can maintain any form of distance from each other. Africa is closing businesses and shutting economic activities to contain the spread. Unfortunately, this policy direction is building hot spots because, with less than 2USD a day, a lot of the people cannot afford fancy accommodation. Having so many people in one place will not bring the solution we need because these places will just become concentrated hubs. Africa needs an African tweak to a global response. Image source: naijarealestatehub Accommodation arrangements like these abound in many African cities: "One slippers" where people pay for a space on the floor f...