Relationships during #COVID19 are unnecessary?

How do you answer such questions?

The human spirit is indeed strong, and our humanness transcends even celestial boundaries. But, all over the world, the current pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on people, families and communities. What started as a distant tale of an outbreak in Wuhan, China, has worked its way, fiercely, into every fabric of human history. The coronavirus pandemic has built border walls and further torn the already weak cord of friendship, familial relationship and camaraderie among people. This might just be one of the greatest tests of human relationship in history. 

Humankind’s survival instincts push a “fight or flee” plan in face of an impending danger. No wonder the surging threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has heightened people’s consciousness of safety and self-preservation over their other basic needs. 

In Lagos, Nigeria, ‘normal’ daily rush have been ‘disrupted’ by the lockdown, so bad that many people now depend on charity, gifts from friends, family members and other philanthropists, to survive; and the odds seem stacked against us.

Prevented from any physical contact with a crowd or potentially risky exchange between people, family members and friends that live apart rely on voice or video calls, electronic messaging and other virtual mediums to stay in touch with one another. The things we once called “mundane” -hanging out with friends at a park or beach, being stuck in traffic, while eating gala from a roadside hawker, in a poorly ventilated public bus on Third Mainland Bridge, going to church and sitting among people in a tightly packed pew and simply sharing a warm smile, a handshake and a hug after the service – are now luxuries we can’t afford. We could not have been prepared for how drastically our realities have been altered.

The common man in Lagos could not have anticipated such a quick switch. People have to eat, pay bills and now worry about staying COVID-19 negative. And whether through virtual means or by the endless financial and material support doled out to the needy by philanthropy, the bond of friendships, family relationships and our collective humanness has proved to be resilient—even in our rapidly changing realities. Though we are separated by several seas, deserts, walls and masks, the collective support of friends, families and communities is our best front against the pandemic.

So, will we build bridges and come together in a unified front against the impending threat or will we be drowned in self-isolation, depression and fear? 

by Ayomi Tsalu