KWA GROUND.

 Once in a while, I visit my old folks. They are still traditional and believe in the importance of stories to inculcate values and teach life lessons that would otherwise be awkward. This time was no exception.It was an early dawn and we were brewing tea in the kitchen.She began a tale about a woman who had so many children in one homestead. She lived in a shanty in the outskirts of town and every evening, she would make them sit around the fireplace watching the pot boil.They believed that soon,the food would soon be ready .One by one,they drifted of to sleep and she would put  them away to bed with tears whelming  in her eyes:'Tomorrow is a new day',that is what she lived by.

Being a hawker was tough.Life on the streets was not friendly either. Sometimes, she had something to give them,most times,she played the cooking pot trick to put them to bed.It was a twisted way of giving them hope,but again,isn't that what being a mother entails?

I am jolted back to reality as I think about that old tale that has changed versions since.It is my little brother who loves the speeches of the Head of state.Its a breaking News alert and an update on the current wave of corona virus. With three confirmed cases positive in the country, drastic measures have to be taken right? But hold up,Kenya is a third world country with a majority of its citizens living below the dollar. 
Several humanitarian issues are bound to arise .How do you self -quarantine in an informal settlement? Or in a household full of people? How do you 'stock up ' when you live from hand to mouth? What will the closure mean for daily and hourly waged workers ?

This argument of course triggers another question' what will be the essense of the wealth gained if you die from the infection? Well if you asked me,I would say,its  like those teenagers who say as long as we have love,we don't need food!!!! This is lunacy in my own opinion!!!.Well, if the  virus does not get here first, hunger and frustration will.I wish no doom nor bad luck,just putting an end to the myopic thinking of our executive .

It is untill disaster strikes that we hear of a disaster management committee. Well,bravo,there exists one, Well,they advised the head of state to suspend learning in all schools. As a preventive measure, that can be let to slide,only now,parent's have to work twice as hard to keep those children fed  disciplined and contained until the suspension of learning is lifted, a situation whose certainty is a blur . 

I wonder how many mother will keep the pot burning in the evening because they can not explain why they did not go to work,why the next meal is not assured .I mean,how does a hawker and a street vendor work from home?As a parent, it is heartbreaking when you cannot provide all the meals  and basic care.Right now,the shoe pinches more because you stay with the children at home-quarantine.
It is a looming crisis,as we work on ensuring the virus leaves the people intact both physically and mentally due to paranoia until there is a way out to stabilize the economy because as it is, we will not  be dealing with COVID -19 alone.........

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