When this disease period is over

I had the urge to go out on Sunday the 29th of March just for the fun of it, I just wanted to have a feel of how town is ahead of the partial lockdown on Monday the 30th of March 2020.

I convinced my husband to take us all out to enable me buy some pastries for the home, on our way back, I spotted a motor rider with a female passenger
I thought to myself “this will be illegal come tomorrow.” While thinking, I heard the female passenger saying to the driver “When this disease is over…” I did not hear what followed, we were all on our individual paths.

They were riding on their motor cycle while I rode in a vehicle but the statement kept ringing in my mind.

When this disease period is over…a lot of things will change, I know that human life is fragile but Coronavirus disease has reiterated that human life is indeed so fragile.

Many were the activities that had been planned, people planned their 2020 calendar as early as September, 2019, now most of those activities have been cancelled with many countries across the globe experiencing a lockdown somehow.

When this disease is over…the statement gives me hope, it shows that humanity still have hope even in the face of difficulties, it reminds me of a biblical passage that darkness may ensure for a moment but joy cometh in the morning. Humanity have hope that this strangeness we are experiencing will be over someday.

I hope that when this disease period is over…Ghana, as a country will also appreciate certain things, the need for an efficient and effective way of collecting data no matter how much it costs us.

To me the disease has revealed the real need for data, yes we do not have data on head porters, we do not have data on homeless people, we do not have data on persons with disabilities let alone talk about specific disabilities.

We do not have data on children with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and others, we have very poor data collection systems in place.

Anytime, we are taking data, we are made to go and queue, when you have to give data, everything in your life must halt, you need to go and queue to have it done.

Talking about data collection, reminds me of the National Identification Authority (NIA) and the issues that came with the registration when the President announced the measure to help us fight against this Coronavirus disease 2019 effectively.

I remember very well than when the NIA registration came to my area, I could not afford to go and do it, I could not see how I will carry three children, one of them with special needs to go and queue sometimes the whole day to get it done.

So I didn’t do it, having data will also afford us the opportunity to know the different categories of people or situation that we need to deal with and find appropriate ways to deal with it.

Now thanks to what is known as contact tracing, there is a team of medics who are supposed to start a house to house sampling in lockdown areas, this means, we can possibly do data collection, NIA registration, Voters Identification Card etc. without necessarily having to queue.

This period also reveals the need to beef up our use of technology, we are in a technological world, everything now can be done online, during this period we are learning that meetings that was hitherto done physically can be done using zoom or Skype, working remotely is now as important as being in the office.

Yes, Ghana may probably not afford a total lockdown given the fact that we do not have data to be able to respond to appropriate needs during these unusual times.

Let me, however, say kudos to the President for the demonstrated leadership during these times, I got a friend resident in Canada who is always full of praise for the way the Ghanaian President is handling the COVID 19 issues.

Honestly, I feel proud to be Ghanaian anytime that friend of mine calls. May God guide the President to make the best decisions for the country in these times.

So when this disease period is over…May we appreciate that every single human life matters, what affects the other person may ultimately affect you directly or indirectly so may we learn to care more about human beings as compared to material things.

I am a Special Needs Mom and I know at first-hand how it feels to be isolated, in these unusual times, I believe that there are many who will feel so isolated and had it not been for virtual contacts will have serious consequences on their emotions.

When this disease period is over…may we think more about human beings especially those who may be vulnerable and include their needs in our planning and thinking, I call it inclusive development?

When this disease period is over…may we learn to be more appreciative of the things we take for granted and feel more grateful for the gift of human touch and presence?