For the past few days, I have had Tupac Shakur’s words in my head, my mind randomly singing the same verse from time to time.
“We gotta make a change It’s time for us as people to start making some changes Let’s change the way we eat Let’s change the way we live And let’s change the way we treat each other You see the old way wasn’t working So it’s on us to do what we gotta do, to survive.”
Tupac has always made an impression on me since I was very young because he wrote music that could be felt universally. He wrote about struggle. In his own struggles was gangs, violence, racism on all levels, and so much more. I used to read his poetry and as a writer, it helped to inspire me. Tupac had a way of writing which could be understood by many, he wasn’t writing for himself, he was writing to make a change.
Again his words ring true:
“I’m not saying that I’m going to change the world but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world”
This song is resonating with me lately because I believe now is the time when all of us need to start making some changes. Covid-19 has brought to light many failings that we have had as a society for a long time and while people are yearning to go back to normal it has been said by many that we cannot go back to the normal that we are used to.
Social media has been privy to a lot of emotions lately, those include fear, anxiety, selfishness, and quite a nasty side of some people. A reason why I have decided to severely limit my time on social media.
We see people calling for lockdowns to end because it is the poorest and vulnerable who are suffering, yet people don’t want to face the fact that many of these people were poor and suffering before lockdown, while people were too busy going about their lives to mind. These are not the only situations which were evident before the lockdown was imposed to save lives and help our health systems and more importantly our health care workers.
I’ve seen many people praise our healthcare workers and thank them for being brave and ready to fight the virus yet these same people are calling for the lockdown to end once the inconvenience got a bit too much for them. What people don’t understand is these same people you are thanking will have to make the incredibly hard decision of choosing one person’s life over another if you don’t do everything in your power to stop the spread. As seen in Italy resources were maxed out and healthcare workers were traumatised when they had to make the call of who to save and who to let die when there was only one ventilator available.
Please don’t put on a show on social media of your gratitude to these people if you are also calling to be able to play golf, go surfing, and get your nails done. If you are worried about the well being of salon owners and employees then buy a voucher for yourself, your friends, give them an income with the opportunity to gain the rewards later. But please don’t let your inability to handle inconveniences cause healthcare workers to suffer.
We are extremely unprepared for what is to still hit out health system. According to a local doctor there are a small number of ventilators in the Eastern Cape while patients usually need to stay on them for 2 – 3 weeks before the next patient can use them. We only need an incredibly small amount of patients requiring a ventilator before healthcare workers must decide whose life is more valuable. In areas such as Makhanda there only needs to be 3 critically ill patients. Our government is trying to save time to acquire more. Our government is trying to save time to prepare us better. It is the time to stand together not for your healthy self, but for the other person you may infect, who will need to be admitted and who will need a ventilator and who will have to gasp for breath because there are none available.
So what do we do? We cannot save everyone, we cannot avoid the deaths that will continue to rise, we are only human and as much as some of us wish we could do more, sometimes we can’t do more. But we should do something. So we start small, we make small changes which can help in some way, no matter how small. Maybe the change will only help in your household and for now, that is okay too. Next time you can help make that change outside and help someone else and the changes can grow and multiply. We should all be a bit more humble. As Tupac was and know that we may not change the world, we may not even spark the brain that does change it, but we can change someone’s life or help them change someone else’s life. Be the ripple effect that leads to the one who does change the world or at least makes it a slightly better place.
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