When Covid-19 hit Africa, the effects were devastating; however, some other people were crushed more than others, through diseases but also through measures to deal with them.
Teachers in private schools, which are a significant component of the school workforce, have been mainly affected by the closure of schools because they have a safety net and, in the maximum case, no company dates back to previous dates.
Meanwhile, many have to engage in agriculture, cleaning and street selling.
The tension is unbearable and has made many others cry, including Akindele Oluwasheun Oladipupo in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
He and other teachers were hopeful in July when the Nigerian government announced that he would allow schools to reopen for exams. But when that resolution was reversed, the pain was too great.
Akindele, who is married and has three children under the age of eight, told me in a phone interview that he sat surprised to digest the news, before tears ran down his face.
“My wife said to me, ‘Don’t cry, it’s okay, we’re going to succeed, one way or another.’ But I think of the many teachers who have nothing to feed their families. In many cases, the wife and husband are teachers. The whole circle of relatives, source of income, is gone, indefinitely.”
Unable to bear his own burden and that of the other teachers, he turned to his cell phone and expressed his pain.
A friend saw the video recording and suggested that he post it online. It went viral, which earned him the nickname “Master Who Cries”.
Akindele says he filmed it in hopes of encouraging others to other personal school teachers who needed it.
Nigerian journalist Lara Wise presented a crusade on Facebook to locate Akindele and suggested that she post a one-minute clip with the main points of her account. Donations have arrived from all over the world.
Overwhelmed by generosity, Akindele redirected more than 1.2 million naira ($3,100; 2,400 euros) to dozens of teachers in need.
“I said to myself: now that God has put me to the test and paved the way for cash to come in, if I had to pay that money, it means I’m thinking about the fate of my children.
“So we started for the teachers who were struggling. We contacted more than two hundred teachers and gave them enough food, adding rice, spaghetti. We also put cash in envelopes and hit them.
It was only when Akindele began distributing aid packages that he learned of the magnitude of the problem. Many teachers in other parts of Nigeria have asked for help.
“It was difficult to see older teachers who had spent many years in the service of the career advocating for food.
Facebook full of comments praising the mourning instructor as he criticized the government for ignoring the plight of personal school instructors.
One Nigerian said: “Honest politicians who are eating this country dry. If a man who receives the grace of God can do all this, all those men with agbadas (floating dresses) and women hiding under the filters [of social media] bury their faces in shame. “
“God bless Akindele immensely,” another wrote. “May God and help those who are ashamed to publicly shout Array.. who die in silence.”
In addition to the selfless movements of frontline workers, especially life-saving fitness professionals after the pandemic, many others across the continent face the generosity of ordinary Africans.
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As he waits to see if the reopening date of the new school materializes in late August, Akindele tells me that this spirit of ubuntu, a non-unusual humanity and a shared duty, surprised him.
“Africans are people. That’s what I’ve noticed in the last three weeks,” he says.
“People I’ve never met in my life, don’t know me, they don’t know where I’m from, they don’t know if I’m a con man or a con man, yet they sent cash to my account. I’m very grateful to them.”
In Kenya, Michael Munene was also praised for his generosity for the pandemic.
Raised in a deficient circle of relatives who can barely eat a little a day, he knows how hunger and poverty feel. When he began his life doing occasional work, he continued to fall behind in rent.
He told me about the incident that triggered ubuntu on it.
“Early one morning, my landlord waited for me to use the bathroom, which was out of space, and temporarily left me out of his space due to hiring delays.
“Caught outdoors with no clothes or money, I swore I would never let anyone else suffer such humiliation.”
Today, Michael is a landlord who rents to about 30 tenants. When their income declined, he granted them a rent absence permit, which they have had to pay since May.
“It’s hard for my business, but I can’t stand the vision of homelessness. I have told my tenants that for now, they focus only on finding food for their families.
In Accra, Ghana’s capital, when the closure was announced, Elizabeth Yawson’s mind focused on other vulnerable people living on the streets.
When the radio journalist presented an online crusade to help the homeless, the reaction was enthusiastic.
“People responded generously and we had to feed about a hundred more people for a week.
“Later, I got two restaurants and contacted 30 fitness staff at a hospital in Central Kasoa, Ghana, providing them with a loose lunch for a full week.
What Akindele, Michael and Elizabeth have shown is that although the chicken belongs to a single house, when he sings, he is heard in the village.
News of their movements and others like them have touched many souls across the continent.
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