By Amin Kef Sesay
Big Idea of this week, 23rd – 29th August 2020 “Strong Communities Succeed” is indeed a wake-up call for solidarity, togetherness and resilience in gearing up to combat the coronavirus. Care and empathy must not be overshadowed by stigmatization as that could provide the necessary impetus for our frontline workers to continue to offer the best of their services as well as enhance the fortitude and determination to access available medical treatments.
Anybody can get coronavirus – our family members, friends, neighbors, schoolmates, and coworkers. It can even happen to you! We are all at risk of getting the virus. Let us show thanks and appreciation for our health workers, who have bravely stepped up to care for patients with a virus that was unknown to us all a year ago.
Let us show care and kindness for those who have had the virus. The virus can act differently for each person and can have long-lasting effects. Let us encourage them as they manage each day. Let us show our appreciation and support for our neighbors in quarantine.
They are sacrificing a lot to protect the safety and health of their loved ones and community members. We can show others we care by calling and checking on them, dropping off food or other items they may need if they are sick or in quarantine and cannot go out, and showing them kindness. Corona fet na we all fet!
Anybody can get coronavirus – women, men, girls, and boys. It does not matter if you are young, old, disabled, able-bodied, rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, black or white. We are all at risk of getting the virus. We should show care and support for those who get the virus, the same way we would want to be cared for and supported.
Some of the ways we can care and support others includes calling and checking on them, dropping off food for them or other items they may need if they are sick or in quarantine and cannot go out, and encouraging them and showing them kindness. It is not only people who get the virus who can be stigmatized.
Their family members, caregivers, friends and communities can also be stigmatized and treated differently. Stigma doesn’t just hurt the person its directed toward, but it can also create challenges for response efforts. When others see how someone is treated differently due to stigma, it can drive them away from quarantining, getting tested or going into a treatment or community care center.
Nearly every country in the world had coronavirus cases. Coronavirus is still spreading in most countries. We all need to do our part to protect ourselves and others by wearing face masks and keeping a safe distance of at least one meter. Let us show thanks and appreciation for our health workers – who have bravely stepped up to care for patients with a virus that was unknown to all of us a year ago and who continued the important, everyday care to our communities during this time.
Let us show care and kindness for those who have had the virus or are close to someone who has had the virus. They are normal people like you and me. The virus can act differently for each person and the effects can be long-lasting. Showing care and kindness for one another will encourage those who are dealing with the virus.
Let us show our appreciation and support for our neighbors in quarantine. They are sacrificing a lot to protect the safety and health of their loved ones and community members. Someone who has finished quarantine is not considered a risk for spreading coronavirus to others and they should not be pointing fingers at that person.
Let us treat others the way we want to be treated – with love and kindness. Communities that care for and support one another are stronger communities.
