ENTRIES SPOTLIGHT (AFRICA)

SOUTH AFRICA

Gogo Ndabezinhle is a spiritual healer who has access to okhokho nomkhulu’s (our forefather’s) wisdom. Although her initiation ceremony was delayed by social distancing restrictions, she continues to advise her clients and community through her spiritual gift. In pahla (mediation), she prays for her community – those who have lost loved ones and who have fallen ill.

She uses herbal treatments like umhlonyane (Artemisia afran - African wormwood), which are ailments for treating flu and respiratory illnesses to help patients who have limited access to - or who have experienced limited success with - Western medicine. She also works as a teacher, and when restrictions weren’t as strict, she returned to school to help students navigate through the trying times.

Photo Credit : Tshepiso Mabula ka Ndongeni

UGANDA

Since schools were shut were shut to contain the spread of infection in Uganda, children have not been able to study for the past three months. To help fill this critical educational gap, Nambooze Hadijah takes time off from her pottery work every day at 4pm to teach children in her neighbourhood in Bweyogerere, near Kampala city. Hadijah says it’s important to continue teaching children during lockdown so they can build on all the things they learnt before the lockdown.

Her community has been classified as ‘vulnerable urban poor’, as many community members sleep in makeshift structures erected along the main railway line running through Bweyogerere. Their main source of income is from selling pottery products like cooking pots, flowerpots and charcoal stoves. Business was adversely affected by the lockdown – there was no longer the means of transporting the finished products to customers. The government have been providing food relief to the area, consisting of maize and beans, to keep community members like Hadijah capable of providing their invaluable services.

Photo Credit:  Naibi Turihohabwe

DR CONGO

Dancer and choreographer, Totem Negro, and his friends began organising an awareness campaign when COVID-19 was first reported in Africa in late January. He said: “as a Congolese artist, I must do something to help my community become more aware and learn to protect themselves from the pandemic.”

Totem was dressed in a medical coat and cried out his lines as he held a bottle of hand soap during his performance – his efforts attracted the attention of many people, who gathered around him and his troop to listen to his performance. He and the crew also distributed food to the community during their campaign, to help the community as tangibly as they could.

Photo Credit : Moses Sawasawa

KENYA

Kenya was not in lockdown when these photos were taken. Many people have jobs that cannot be done from home – for some, a day without work would mean a day without food. This applies to matatus – drivers of minibuses that often transport more people than they have seats. 

When entering one bus, driver Nicholas Peter (red-black sweater) hands out face masks. In the back of the bus, matatu tout Edward (blue t-shirt) cleans the seats of the bus in between shifts, when there are no passengers. "We clean the bus multiple times a day," he says. "We disinfect the seats and the metal bar that people hold when we are on the road."

"This is an advanced hand-sanitiser," matatu tout Lucky John (green jacket, black cap) says, "Many people will not be able to afford to go to the hospital. And if you can't seek medical attention, you will die. So we take our own precautions. We don't want to die; everybody here loves their life. We are taking every step and every measure seriously."

Photo Credit : Joost Bastmeijer

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