VILLAGERS in some parts of the country might be sleep
walking into a crisis of disastrous proportions if Covid-19 (coronavirus) was
to hit the remote areas of the country, with many seemingly unaware of the
basics about the disease or the steps needed to safeguard against contracting
or spreading it.
The country is on high alert and President Mnangagwa last
Thursday launched a Covid-19 National Preparedness and Response Plan as the
country continues to heighten preparedness. However, despite an information
blitz that has been received in urban areas, indications are that people in
rural areas have not received adequate education about the rampaging virus.
When a Sunday News crew visited Matabeleland South last
week, most people claimed they were oblivious of the virus and what they needed
to do to combat it.
Mr David Ncube (73) of Malahlela Village in Esigodini said
although he has a radio where he was getting news updates about coronavirus,
fellow villagers have no access to radios or newspapers and were relying on the
grapevine about the pandemic.
“We don’t know much about this disease. Personally, I have
been able to hear what has been said about it while listening on my radio. This
morning for example I learnt a lot of things about this illness but
unfortunately not all of us have radios. So, the information that most of us
have has come from things that are discussed among people when they go to fetch water.
“We really don’t know much about what is required. I know
that we’re supposed to use soap to wash our hands but we don’t have these
things and that’s not because we don’t want to have them but because we don’t
have money to buy them. We’re poor so those things are not our priority,” Mr
Ncube said.
For Mr Jabulani Ncube of Gongo Village, most of the
information that is being spread is based on myths and fiction because no one
is empowering them with the right information.
“We have been told not to shake hands. That’s the only
thing that we know. We don’t know anything else about what to do to help
ourselves and not get this disease. We wish there would be people that could
come and teach us about how this disease affects people and how we can stop it
from spreading among ourselves,” Mr Ncube said.
When Sunday News crew got to Sibomvu Shopping Centre, three
young men were sharing a calabash (opaque beer) and one of them Mr Jabulani
Ncube (28) said they did not know if this could lead to their vulnerability to
the coronavirus.
“We don’t know what this thing called coronavirus is. Maybe
you people have come to give it to us, we don’t know. Right now, we are sharing
a calabash between the three of us and it is not the first one that we have
shared. We are people that live together and do everything together and I don’t
think I can imagine telling my friend here next to me that he can’t share the
calabash with me. That is not how we were raised and I don’t think we can start
doing that because of a disease that we don’t know much about,” Mr Ncube said.
His companion and drinking partner, Mr Mthokozisi Dlamini
said they were confused about what the disease was as the only source of news
they have was the radio which blared loud music behind them.
“We would prefer it if there were people that came here to
teach us. Right now, we don’t know much and there are a lot of stories being
told about this coronavirus but the message is not reaching us. Maybe those
that have radios may know what is going on but not everyone has a radio. As you
can hear there is loud music playing right now and we can’t stop it so we can
listen to news about coronavirus,” he said.
For Innocent Dlodlo (36),
educating older people about the virus would be an uphill task as some
of the proposed measures to fight the virus, like not shaking hands, clashed
with essential and long-held traditions in the area.
Mrs Doris Ncube said even local healthcare workers had not
provided them with much information about the virus.
“We have not had much information and even here at the
clinic they have not told us much about what this virus is. As it is, we don’t
know who catches it or who passes it on. I’m eating right now and I don’t even
know if this is the right thing to do or not. We’re also the people who cook
for our children at school, so if we catch something, they will also catch it
so we are very worried right now,” she said. Sunday News
0 comments:
Post a Comment