Thursday 26 March 2020

The world is suddenly

much quieter. 
There have been no vehicles down our street this morning. People are not going to work. They are staying home and their cars are in carports and garages.
I saw someone out walking their dog and the elderly couple who walk each morning were striding along at their usual pace. Yes, you can still go out for those purposes - if you keep your distance. I wonder how long that will last?
The amount of work I have to do has dropped dramatically. Yesterday was the first day in more years than I care to think about that there was no new work come in. The reasons for that are not good.
I have been trying to "retire" for some time. Now, for the worst possible reasons, it looks as if it might be possible. Be careful what you wish for! 
People cannot travel. The sort of aid workers I try to help simply aren't going anywhere. They can't. People here cannot leave the country. Others cannot enter it.
It does not mean things don't need to be done. It means they can't be done.
We still have refugee camps. There are still wars being fought. People still need help for other reasons. 
Catherine Hamlin died recently. If you don't know her then Google her to see what a remarkable woman she was. I did a tiny amount of work for her once - many years ago. She was highly intelligent, courteous and compassionate. Her work has made a difference to thousands upon thousands and it needs to go on. 
There are other people like her working quietly and wondering how they will cope if C19 hits. One of the "micro-aid" workers I worked with recently managed to get to his home country just before the borders closed. His only thought was whether the people he had left behind would be able to safely insert a massive water tank into place and connect the necessary plumbing. That way a hospital which might well care for C19 patients will have water on tap instead of bringing it in a bucket at a time. Those things matter.
Let's not forget them any more than we must not forget our families, friends and neighbours.

1 comment:

Holly said...

Thank you for the important reminder. A good friend has a colleague who waited too late to get out of Myanmar. Not wanting to abandon the school where she was teaching, she waited too long to head home. Flight connections are not possible.

We (the US) are now also facing the idiots who have decided that their "remote cabins and summer homes" are better than staying in major cities. They are taking COVID-19 with them, and into locations where the health care is barely adequate for those already living in those places.

I would expect that Australia is at risk for some of the same stupidity.