The Chorkor beach revellers got on your nerves? Relax already.
We can afford to easily blame the people who thronged the Chorkor beach yesterday to have all the fun in defiance of social distancing guidelines in this day of Covid-19. Can we stop insulting them already ,they’re not fools.
The state has failed them. Most of these guys are not as privileged as you ranting here on social media who is lettered,informed on the dangers and the enormity of the pandemic and how susceptible one is to contracting it, have enough food stored for the coming days etc. Poverty and ignorance are the underlying contributory factors.
Have we ever cared about them and done anything concrete to change their lives and circumstances? Why are we so concerned about them now? Your guess is as good as mine.
Their worlds of reality is entirely different from ours. It is foolhardy on our part to assume that their response to the crisis would be same as ours. They require targeted approaches that speak to their peculiar needs and behaviours. Stakeholder engagement,communication, education and enforcement of the guidelines are critical here. Which of these four elements, especially the enforcement of the guidelines, can we confidently say has been adequately done? We need to answer this question honestly before we proceed in our haste to judge , condemn and insult.
Over two weeks ago , the Ghana Tourism Authority directed all beaches to be closed until further notice as part of measures to contain the community spread of Covid-19. They even assured us of collaborating with the police and other relevant bodies to ensure this laudable directive was enforced.
Who went to sleep on his/their job for our brothers and sisters in Chorkor to go have fun at the beach in such huge numbers? No intelligence foresaw this happening? You mean no community informant/leader or security has been detailed to exercise some oversight over the operations or otherwise of these beaches? Are we overwhelmed by the situation already to let these basics elude us ? Do we just take delight in issuing statements and talking big without putting our words into action?
Yes,it’s true, tell me that we as citizens owe ourselves and the collective a big responsibility to abide by the regulations to contain the spread of Covid-19. Agreed. But,believe you me , we shall all be damned and probably be wiped out by the pandemic if we assumed and conveniently so that was all it had to take.
Let’s continue to reach out to our friends and families, particularly the disadvantaged, and educate them on the dangers of the disease. And of course ,how we can be of support to them in whatever way. We need to stay informed and protected together in our fight against this deadly virus.
In the altruistic words of Seneca, a Roman stoic philosopher:”We are waves of the same sea, leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden.”
