EDITOR, The Tribune.
On January 4, 2020, the World Health Organisation reported that there was a cluster of pneumonia cases found in the Wuhan Province in China. Later, it was discovered that this was due to COVID-19. Johns Hopkins Medicine described COVID-19, aka the Corona virus, as a highly contagious respiratory illness easily transmitted through droplets released in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
By March 2020, governments throughout the world, implemented stringent measures to stem the spread of those infected with the virus. This led to the Government of The Bahamas implementing the emergency orders, with a view to implementing swift measures to allow the government the authority to mobilise resources, restrict movement nationally and coordinate health initiatives.
As a result of the spread of this deadly virus worldwide, travel came to an almost immediate halt as many persons were either afraid, restricted or couldn’t afford to travel since unemployment skyrocketed.
Unfortunately, this hit The Bahamas particularly hard as we have depended on the tourist dollar as our primary source of revenue for centuries.
Fast forward to October, 2020, with no vaccine in sight and mandatory mask wearing and social distancing measures yielding very little effect, The Bahamas seems to have fallen deeper in a state of recession.
To assist the thousands unemployed at this time, many civic organisations, churches, the National Insurance Board, Social Services, among others, have stepped in to fill the massive voids.
Sadly, this alone is not enough as the pandemic has persisted for almost a year and the government as well as non profits struggle to replenish resources needed to fund the initiatives further.
The Bikelife 242 organisation, which is a group of motorcycle enthusiast from all facets of the Bahamian community, began the initiative “Be thy brother’s keeper”, where we pool resources to assist members in need due to COVID-19.
This initiative is not new to the group as on countless occasions in the past we have assisted members and families of members, who would have suffered from injuries and/or deaths from accidents.
To date, we have assisted many members and hope someday in the near future to broaden the scope of this assistance programme to include other charitable organisations and members within our communities.
If we are to survive these temporary shortfalls, we must come together and implement similar initiatives within each and every community, church, workplace and organisation.
It is not only a moral responsibility, but also a civic duty for those of us with a little more, to give a little to assist our neighbours in need at this time.
This is a pivotal point when a community coming together is most crucial to our survival. We have done it countless times before in the past, after suffering from so many devastating natural disasters.
It is time for us to “Be our brothers keeper”, and give back. Like or motto says: “Forward, Upward, Onward, TOGETHER.
CLIFFORD WILLIAMS
Nassau,
October 19, 2020.
Comments
Porcupine 4 years, 2 months ago
Mr. Williams, I applaud your spirit, as well as your actions. They are commendable. However, I disagree with your statement, "Fast forward to October, 2020, with no vaccine in sight and mandatory mask wearing and social distancing measures yielding very little effect, The Bahamas seems to have fallen deeper in a state of recession." Mr. Williams, had Bahamians understood, and taken more seriously the calls for social distancing and wearing masks, we would likely be in a much, much better position presently. The reason that our, and many other countries and economies are still shut down, is because we do not believe we are our brother's keeper. We see this attitude in word and in action throughout the world, but for our purposes, most acutely in The Bahamas. Most Bahamians seem to believe the laws were written for someone else, not them. Covid 19 is transmitted person to person. It appears, that where we are now was entirely predictable if only looking at the bungled government response and the selfish attitude of our own people. This is not to criticize helping the less fortunate. On the contrary, had we all had your attitude, along with an educated understanding of what our responsibilities are to our more vulnerable family members and fellow citizens, we may well have been on the road to recovery by now. Wearing a condom some of the time, and only with some of our lovers, yields the results we are experiencing today with regard to the plethora of children born today in less than ideal circumstances, decreasing their hope for the future. I see a correlation of attitude and action.
themessenger 4 years, 2 months ago
Mr. Williams, I likewise applaud your spirit and actions. However, this pandemic has laid bare the plethora of societal ills in the Bahamas that have been festering for decades. The last three generations of Bahamians have had no respect for themselves never mind their brothers and sisters. Lawlessness and promiscuity have prevailed, our people have long since abandoned principles and morality in the pursuit of personal gratification and have perfected the art of irresponsible procreation. Hand to mouth is all we know! There is no tomorrow or next year, only now! At some point, Bahamians must come to the understanding that there are consequences for their actions and poor life choices. It's not someone else's fault, its yours, you alone are responsible for the decisions you make, good or bad, whether or not to practice birth control, whether or not to get an education, whether or not to earn an honest living or to live a life of crime. Bahamians need to understand that if their brothers are expected to be their keepers they have a responsibility to be their brother's keepers in return.
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