In March this year, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a world pandemic. After that announcement, many countries implemented various lock down measures - from the extreme to the moderate.
One key aspect in avoiding transmission of COVID-19, is social distancing. To implement this, mass gatherings were stopped, schools and other places which collect many people together, were closed. We have been advised not to shake hands, but instead to greet each other from a distance. In Uganda, we were advised to have ‘scientific’ weddings and funerals, which meant having very few people gathering - as a measure to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
Locking down and implementing these safety measures has impacted on the way we ‘do’ community. It has meant that we have to find new and innovative ways to keep being community despite the distance. We have witnessed all manner of public expressions of kindness and generosity. We have seen communities within the larger community, coming together, whether they be communities of artists, activists, medical workers, teachers - every type of community has been affected.
Community is inimical to our way of life in Africa. It is at the heart of Ubuntu - I am because you are. That’s why its an important subject to explore. We want to talk about how COVID-19 has helped or hurt our sense of community. We want to explore and celebrate mostly the good, but also look at the bad and the ugly that has been surfaced about community in this time of COVID. We want to interrogate if and how community will or has to change in a post COVID era.
We invite you to join us every Thursday, starting with our intro episode tomorrow (Yes Tomorrow, Thursday 30th April! 🤗), as we engage in this conversation with various community members and leaders. Let’s talk comm-UNITY!
Jacqueline Asiimwe CEO, CivSource Africa