This is a public service announcement about the coronavirus or Covid-19 disease outbreak.
While countries all over the world are on lockdown, and panic is the order of the day, this is a time when Indigenous Peoples around the world are encouraged to stay calm, and be strong, in the face of severe adversity.
What is most important to note, is that our elderly are the most vulnerable. We need to take extra precaution to save the lives of the ones who are dear to us, and the ones who have shown us the way to go, who have guided our feet on the path that we all walk.
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great danger to humanity, including the indigenous peoples of Africa.
If the spread of the virus is not urgently arrested and is allowed to infect African indigenous communities, the virus may decimate our member communities.
Africa’s Indigenous Peoples are extremely vulnerable to the dreaded virus, owing to a lack of essential resources such as clean water, food, housing, medical supplies and even basic information.
Freelance Journalist Maria Clara Valencia talks to us about the vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia in the face of COVID-19. Maria also gives us an in depth description of the social ills that the Indigenous Peoples in this region are facing. More importantly, we hear about the resilience of these communities and how they are planning to survive.
As covid-19 is sweeping across the globe and humanity as a whole battles with the consequences of this pandemic, one cannot help but to be reminded of the epidemics of the past, particularly the ones that caused pain and suffering and death amongst Indigenous Peoples.
As we commemorate World Health Day on April 7th, we are faced with a pandemic. Dr. Myrna Cunningham reminds us how to stay safe, and how to practice personal hygiene in this time of crisis.