Sammy Werunga
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected and continues to affect the human race in its entirety under the sun. At a personal level, the outbreak came at a time when I was almost done with my undergraduate studies. The school was shut down indefinitely as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the virus that has no cure at the moment. Consequently, I was forced to travel up-country now that everything had come to a standstill. Rural homes have been considered safer in comparison to living in metropolitan areas. I guess we can say that I am lucky having a rural home because I could return to it and not have to study far from home. Due to the prevalence of the disease in the country's capital, I was more at risk of contracting the deadly virus than I would be in the village.
Sammy on arrival at his rural home where the extended family is sheltering:
I arrived in the village late March. As was expected of anyone who had traveled from Nairobi, which by then was the only place that had reported cases of Coronavirus, I self-isolated for about twelve days after which I started to freely interact with other community members. Some of the community members were afraid of interacting with people who had traveled from Nairobi, whereas others did not give a damn! As a development agent, it dawned on me that I had a role to play.
First, I had to sensitise the community members to the reality of Corona. Secondly, I had to encourage them to adopt the measures that the ministry of health was advertising, which unfortunately very few members of the community were adhering to. So, through these efforts that the majority of local joints and kiosks now have sanitisers and water where today customers wash their hands before any interaction.
The pictures below show how the community is actively involved in the sensitization and incorporating of safety measure against Covid-19:
Besides the sensitisation that I did in the local market, another of my passions has been reignited. I have always planted trees during my holidays. During this period I have dedicated plenty of my time to cultivating and planting not only trees but also bananas, sweet potatoes, and cassavas. The greatest lesson that I have learned is that communities should be encouraged to grow more food crops rather than cash crops, so that in the event of such a crisis in the future, the rural populations will be in a better self-dependent and sustaining position, meaning that they don’t have to wait and rely so much on financial aid from the government and other support groups.
By Sammy Werunga
The writer is a 4th-year student at Kenyatta University where he pursues a degree in community resource management. Sammy just started with us as a mentor. He loves nature and is passionate about activities that bring forth positive social change, particularly for the vulnerable.