VIrtual Room - How is the Covid 19 situation affecting the lives of Africans in NRW.
Date: 16.2.2021
The session started with an opening remark from the chairperson of African Impulse who welcomed and thanked all for taking time to attend the session. A brief introduction about the goals of African iImpulse was given and the use of the virtual room to achieve these goals. The virtual room will serve as a platform to discuss diverse topics that concern the African migrants while using cross generational participants to have diverse opinions. After introducing the moderator, the rules of the session were read and these rules (Invitation to dialog) formed the base of the fruitful debate we had:
Main conseuences of Covid 19 to Africans in NRW
Restrictions of social contact have affected most people of African origin here. Most of them experience a form of homesickness especially because they are away from home. This is sometimes compensated by meeting one another in family meetings, community come-together, parties, church community and other social activities.
Not being able to satisfy these social needs has resulted to the following:
- Stress
- Insecurity
- Depression
- Lack of personal encounter
- Fear of being isolated especially those who have not been vaccinated
- Difficulties in finding appropriate activities to occupy the kids
- High level of social media consumption
- Doubts about the vaccine and arguments involved
- Pressure from other family members and the society
Ways of coping with the situation:
- People approach the situation differently
- Most will definitely take the vaccine, some will take the booster vaccine, and some will not
- Those who are not vaccinated do visit test centers daily based on the prevailing valid rules
- Many respect the COVID prevention rules like always wearing a mask, respecting the prescribed social distance when outdoors, avoiding visitors and visits etc
Some considerations on dealing with the situation:
- Reading books and trustworthy websites instead of depending on social media tools and watching TVs
- Meeting in smaller groups while respecting the defined prevalent rules.
- Online meetings are possible even if they cannot replace the personal interactions
- Accept the new normal and follow government recommendations
- It is necessary to continue brainstorming on new methods of approaching the changes of the situation
As days go by, we expect improvements, but the appearance and fear of new variants still puts governments on the edge in finding solutions and also pits the citizens against them as they try to fight measures taken to fight the virus. Africans in NRW normally like to be outdoors, they like to visit friends, engage in associations and events. This way of life has been fundamentally disrupted. Everyone is affected. The quality of life has taken a hit.
