REFLECTIONS OF PAST TURBULENCE ON CURRENT GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS

Smallpox pandemic, photo credit: the Social Historian

It's clear and obvious that today's younger generation has never experienced such a destructive nature of a deadly and prolonged disease, known as the coronavirus, forcing people to stay at home, with anxiety, fear, and unemployment. 



The current crisis of the coronavirus, about infection, deceased, and healing, seems to bring to mind the harsh and bitter experiences of victims during the First and Second World Wars. 

It also gives us a comprehensive understanding of the terrible times people went through during epidemics, such as the Spanish flu, influenza, cholera, and other deadly pandemics.

People think their freedom has been taken away from them because they have been forced to stay at home, can't enjoy sports, visit the cinema halls, the restaurant, go to the football stadium, and visit their loved ones. 

The question is, do people have to be angry over measures that protect and guarantee their own safety against the deadly COVID-19? How honest and sincere are people? 

Let's begin to think deeply about whether people are bitterly complaining about measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus as a loss of freedom. Decades after Germany was divided into East and West Germany, the Iron Curtain came tumbling down in 1989. 

The Germans were divided for 45 years, and those trying to flee from the East to the West were shot down in cold blood.

Africans were captured and taken as slaves. Their homes were burned down, and the people were divided and brutalized. The scars of colonialism and Apartheid are still visible in Africa today.  After that, Aids and Ebola have hit the continent, killing thousands.

Captured African slaves were taken to America to work long hours in sugarcane plantations amidst hunger and poverty. Years after the abolition of slavery, African Americans are still suffering.

Comparing those turbulence times to the current time of the coronavirus gives a better understanding of how people have suffered in the past, and the most painful part, which we can't ignore, is that the emerged political crisis and pandemics were man-made.

The suspension of work and school activities ordered by the government is for our own good. The answers to controlling the pandemic are not only technological or medical, but also quarantine and avoiding social gatherings.

Hanged African-American woman

Thousands of people have died because of the coronavirus. The world is bleeding, and people are mourning, in a state of shock and despair. Yet, it's shocking to read negative comments from people who are happy that the COVID - 19 is killing more black people in the United States of America.

This is not a time to laugh at people because the coronavirus's impact has taken its toll on whites or a particular race. The disease is far from over; besides, no one knows if you are going to live today or the next day. 

People need to show love and care in these disturbing times, not hate, discrimination, and racism. This is the time the world must come together as one until the right vaccines come to save the lives of people who are perishing because of COVID-19. 

THE THREAT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS IN AFRICA

Access to clean drinking water remains a problem in developing Africa.

Environmental problems are not only caused by improper use of nature’s resources but also by unreasonable exploitation, overpopulation of states, low incomes of the population, and unemployment, as the natural environment experiences degradation.

The state of the natural environment of African countries is reflected in the high rates of population reproduction, which are associated with the expansion of acreage and pastures, the growing number of cities, and the excessive and irrational use of natural resources.

The most acute environmental problems of Africa today are reduced soil fertility, accelerated erosion, deforestation, growing water scarcity, deteriorating surface water and air quality, cutting down evergreen forests, and disappearing plant and animal species.

Other causes of environmental problems are the poverty of states and the neglect of environmental consequences. Dirty industries and pollution affect African countries. Environmental degradation also affects food, farming, and livestock.

A typical example of an environmental problem in Africa is that of the Sahel, a vast natural area 400 km wide south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to Ethiopia. The Sahel is a transitional semi-desert zone from deserts to savannas.

The northern boundary of the Sahel is the isoline of the annual precipitation amount of 100–200 mm, and the southern boundary is 600 mm. The average temperature here is + 27 ... + 29 ° С. The humid summer period does not last long, and 80–90% of the precipitation evaporates.

The dry season lasts 8-10 months. The main type of economic activity over the centuries has been nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding. During the wet season, cattle graze in the north of the Sahel, and in the dry season, it is distilled to the south.

This use of land led to a violation of the ecological balance in the twentieth century, which resulted in an increase in the area and the movement of deserts to the south, up to 10 km per year, desertification, and the transformation of arid lands into desert.

The main consequence of this process is an increase in the number of droughts. Some of them went down in history as the 'Sahel tragedy, from 1968 to 1974, and from 1984 to 1985. Africa has 17% of the world's forests. 

Spontaneous deforestation for firewood, valuable trees leads to a reduction of forests. Africa has lost 90% of its evergreen coastal rainforests. In Madagascar, for example, evergreen forests are preserved only in small areas in the east of the island.

A crucial problem in Africa is the shortage of freshwater. To solve it, scientists have proposed various watering projects, for example, in the Sahara. There are projects of diversion of the Congo River to the Sahara and the creation on the site of the ancient lakes of Chad, the Sahara, and Chad.

The presence of rapids on African rivers creates conditions for the irrigation of drylands through the construction of large reservoirs. Reservoirs Kariba on the Zambezi River, Nasser on the Nile River, are examples of the rational use of African surface water.

Poor waste disposal and pollution in Africa an opportunities to invite strange diseases from the developed world to Africa.

National Parks of African countries are taking steps to save wildlife. For these purposes, specially protected areas are created. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first national parks appeared in Africa: Albert, Virunga, Serengeti, Rwenzori, etc.

After liberation from colonial oppression, 25 new national parks were created at once, and by the beginning of the XXI century, protected areas accounted for more than 7% of its territory. The first place in the number of national parks is Kenya (15% of the area).

The largest in the area is Tsavo National Park, more than 2 million hectares, where lions, rhinos, giraffes, Kafa buffaloes, and 450 bird species are protected. The park is best known for herding elephants. In South Africa, savannahs and South African fauna are protected.

Timber exports within parentheses in Africa generate large income for many African countries, yet Africa faces threatening challenges, such as deforestation.

Westerners come to the continent for quality wood, so the area of tropical forests has significantly decreased. African leaders must find solutions to save our continent because the continuous cutting down of trees will affect the population and the environment.

BREAK YOURSELF FREE FROM DEPRESSION

Suicide tendencies can be eliminated by seeing the doctor or through prayer

Everyone has wonderful hopes, dreams, and expectations of their future, but many times what we are looking for never comes our way. Some of us have been robbed of our joy through the loss of a loved one, and many feel lonely and hopeless when they find themselves in abusive homes and domestic violence.

In such a troubled world, it's very easy to see the ailments of society taking their toll on people. The high rate of unemployment and divorce are also some of the causes leading to depression. It's not surprising that psychologists have confirmed that the ailments of people can be traced to the homes and environments they were raised.

We understand that as human beings, we are bound to face difficulties in our lives. The important question is: How do we handle those problems we experience? According to the World Federation for Mental Health, depression is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease and affects people in all communities across the world.

Today, depression is estimated to affect 350 million people. The World Mental Health Survey conducted in 17 countries found that, on average, about 1 in 20 people reported having an episode of depression. But do you know that you have the power to overcome loneliness and depression?

Why do some people easily succumb to depression, and others don't? Resist? The happy people we often meet on the street are not superhumans. They are only happy because experience in life has taught them that happiness is within oneself. You have the power to make yourself happy or miserable.

Someone can make you unhappy, prevent your success, or do everything to hurt you, but so long as you are a living being, you have the power, desire, inspiration, or everything it takes to liberate yourself from that misery, loneliness, or depression.

Fear, anxiety, depression, and loneliness can be easily prevented than you know. Instead of living on drugs and alcohol, which can rather increase your psychological problems, some recommended steps can keep one far from loneliness and depression. 

Reading interesting books as a hobby can capture your imagination to avoid depression.

If you love to stay at home, please cultivate the habit of taking a walk through the gardens, doing window shopping, and joining social clubs. Going to the gym to exercise once or twice a week not only keeps you fit but also psychologically healthy. 

You may have a hidden talent, but you don't know. Find out what you are very good at, follow it, and start blogging to create your happiness.

Another important factor is financial matters, which often wear people down psychologically. When facing financial problems, you need a healthy mind to find your way out, not a depressed mind.  

I can't do it, I'm not sure I can succeed, there is nothing left for me in life, they are all 'symptoms' of depression. Take away the shackles from your body and free your mind from the psychological chain damaging your health. 

Never waste your time on someone who doesn't love you. He or she will never be satisfied, even if you sacrifice your whole life. Be always calm and aspire to greater things in life because the power of positive thinking works.