SA Lock Down

As with everyone, the life we planned and hoped for in South Africa is now not what we thought it might be. Planes grounded, journeys canceled, staff stood down and partners in isolation. We began this year, 2020, at Mercy Air in a very organized way: the diary was very ordered; our year planner was laid out and clearly colour-coded, with gaps between trips highlighted and visitors booked into hospitality. Proudly we gazed upon this DaVinci-like price of work. This thing of beauty appealed to my dyslexic desire to be organized and my insecurity to know what I am doing. Our new addition to the Mercy Air team had done us proud working hard, planning flights, pilots and mission partners.  It could be said I was bordering on premier smugness in our new organized state. But then it crept upon us - Mozambique South African border closed, a deep sense of uncertainty resulting in an initial three week country wide lock down. We watched it happen initially in the UK via the BBC. It seemed from here the UK government responded on a number of fronts:  lock down, NHS and financially. It seemed an amazingly generous act to pay people to stay at home, to attempt to rescue people and the economy from the future.  It is a time such as this that we begin to understand the difference between rich and poor, developed and developing countries. The response from Cyril Ramaphosa has been decisive but with different challenges. After announcing the 3 week lock-down, he spent as much time announcing a Cov19 fund, probably aware that without money from partners, the government would not be able to fund what they would hope to do. Secondly, he announced that the South Africa military would be deployed onto the streets. We live on a continent where the work of the police is often open to interpretation and dialog. Thirdly, here in South Africa the poor live physically very close together, squeezed into townships and settlements, often sharing communal water taps and many with no proper sewerage system. Finally, there are so many sick people, especially in this country.  7.7 million (15-49 year olds) live with  HIV combine that with high TB rates and poor diet. Alongside the personal health issues is that even without a virus, the hospital care system is fragile and very under resourced. This is a scenario that no one wants to see a pandemic virus introduced into, and I’m sure there are other African countries with less resources than South Africa. Flights have now stopped to the UK so it does feel like we stay, we wait, and we pray,  for both countries. I believe my desire to be organized will now fade into insignificance with the reality of our situation.  At the end of both addresses to the nation, the president called on God to assist this great country and its people. If you are the praying kind, remember in your prayers the poor, who on a normal day will find life a challenge, but on a bad day…. Well please pray.  Sent from Samsung tablet. ReplyForward