The Cure Worse than the Disease?
Updated: Dec 15, 2020
I don't mean to be flippant by that title; the current "disease" crisis is real, serious and deadly. But I have been watching what has been happening in Kenya, where we lived until August of last year, and am seeing some alarming reports.
When we returned to Canada from Kenya, we left many great friends. Thanks to all the communication tools, we have kept in touch with them...especially with COVID-19. So I was concerned for them when yesterday, this caught my eye:
And today I received an email from a Pastor I worked closely with for the last decade. Part of his email:
Thing are not good in this part of the world. Numbers of those getting infected are rising everyday. The government has put measures in place to avoid more infections and rapid spread of Covid-19. This measures have affected our day- to-day lives.
We have not been gathering in churches, there's a curfew in place, schools have been closed, and there's lockdown in some parts of the country where infections are high.
Effects of these measures are being felt by many of us who live below poverty line. I'm afraid that if this continues and there is total lockdown most of the people may die of hunger and not of Covid-19, especially those from informal sector.
The government isn't cushioning its citizen economically. Lots of families are now going without meals because they can't move freely to look for meager jobs. Unfortunately most of this people are members in our our churches. Pastors have not been spared either, those who have been worshiping in rental buildings have to pay rent to the owners. Churches have not congregated for four Sundays now. This is taking a toll on many pastors.
I'm not sure, to be frank, why I am sharing this through my business contacts, except to inform us in North America about the "rest" of the world. These are not cultural issues; these are human issues, and we can't forget, and we have to be grateful for the securities (food, not the least!) we have.
Thanks for listening.