Who thought CoVid-19 was an opportunity?

In the beginning, everyone was not scared. People really thought it was a Chinese disease and nobody expected a rapid spread as it went lately. It started spreading slowly into other countries since borders were not closed at the moment until it was announced that it was a global pandemic. Personally, I thought it was going to mess up with a lot of things as it is doing but thinking that it was going to create opportunities was the last thing I thought I could do.

Both developing and underdeveloped countries are getting financial aid from powerful countries and big non-profit organizations and this could be considered as an opportunity for African nations. For instance, Rwanda and some other African nations were given portable laboratories for them to be able to conduct some tests. Initially, these countries did not have those kinds of laboratories and it would have cost them much money. The pandemic served as an opportunity for them to get these laboratories that will be even used after this global pandemic for future purposes.

Youth empowerment and opportunities…

There will be plenty of study abroad programs, scholarships for students, and job opportunities after this global crisis, given that people are dying and that there is a high demand of youth workers for nations to be ready for every other unexpected case that might show up. Nobody was ready for the CoVid-19 crisis. This pandemic is affecting 210 countries and territories around the world and the nations did not expect its rapid spread. It has been seen that most people dying of this virus are specifically old age groups, and people whose immune systems are compromised. According to Centers for disease control and prevention, early data from China suggest that a majority of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths have occurred among adults aged ≥60 years and among persons with serious underlying health conditions. This is a huge loss and an opportunity as well due to the fact that the rate of job demands will get high. This implies the youth getting opportunities to get jobs in order to fill the gaps left as a result of CoronaVirus Disease 19.

The healthcare system…

There is a need for strengthening the healthcare system of African Nations. Now that every country is on its own, leaders have now observed the capability and the ability of their healthcare systems. Every president has now seen the strength and the weakness of their nation, and it is time to brainstorm together both short and long term solutions. Like for instance, Rwanda is yet to launch its first Made in Rwanda ventilation made by students form IPRC Technical School, to be tested by the Rwanda Bureau of Standards so that it can soon be used. A company called FabLab also has started producing Face Shield masks for doctors right after the spread of this virus and this was a hidden potential. Other small businesses also in Rwanda have started producing face masks soon to be used by citizens since the government has ordered every citizen to wear a face mask. Ghana has started producing and using their ventilations and CoVid-19 test kits. The production started later this year and they didn’t even know they had the capability of producing them. All the countries should learn from this and look for the potential because apparently African countries have great potential to do things without the need of the westerns.

Embracing the use of technology…

Getting used to working remotely/Online courses for local schools/cashless transactions. Flex Job’s annual report found that 66% of professionals think they would be more productive working remotely than in a traditional office, with 52% saying they go to their home or home office when they really need to buckle down and get work done (Jay, 2020). Working at home usually contributes to fewer distractions, fewer workplace dynamics, a lower level of noise, less or more frequent gatherings, the freedom to dress more professionally and comfortably, and a more relaxed workplace setting, as described above. 

Working from home also has the potential of diminishing the rapid spread of the virus since people do not meet in person by ensuring workers’ health. Since the lockdown, many companies have started adopting the culture of working from home. The lockdown forced even companies that did not have this system to cope with this mechanism since there was no other way of working. It is crucial in this period as the world faces a global pandemic, and since almost every country is under lockdown, working remotely emerged. Not only that working remotely is much more productive than working in-person, but it also allows to save money for the individuals and also the individuals have their customized offices. 

Online learning as well is being practiced by some schools even though they have not yet embraced how to use it. Since within an online degree program there are no fixed classroom dates, so students will have the freedom to build their own plans, and it will be up to the student to proactively reach out to the teachers, complete tasks on time, so prepare accordingly. I believe that the online system is a necessity mostly in this time where we are going through a crisis, but it does not have the potential to replace in-person learning. Personally, I have been having internet connectivity issues, and it is not only me. There are many vulnerable students out there who barely get access to the internet, and they are being seriously affected by this, which will soon affect their grades as well. 

Although it has many disadvantages, it is a necessity to have online learning as it allows students to work in a self-paced learning environment. As Soma Mwana if we already had our Digital Library launched already, we could have been making money ever since the lockdown started because many schools do not have the potential to move to online learning. It could have been a way for us to present our platform to schools which I believe some schools would have been interested in using the app. This is a loss and a lesson to ‘us’ as a team because we have been pushing launching it till we couldn’t. This would have been still a challenge to the children from low-income families who hardly have access to smartphones, laptops, and the internet but as far as the community we live in have income inequalities, this issue will still be an issue. 

Income equality and minimum wage system…

Implementation of a minimum wage system. The federal minimum wage was instituted in 1938, during the Great Depression. Reasons for setting a wage minimum included stabilizing the economy and ensuring that all workers, including those who were not labor union members, were at least able to afford basic living necessities (George, 2018). For a minimum wage system, employees are paid in accordance with the time they have worked which I believe is a motivation. A Worker guaranteed a basic wage is also more likely to stay in their present employment. The minimum wage system will have workers less exploited because in this system workers are paid according to the time they spent at work thus enabling income equality because it has been seen that people with good positions at any particular company are well paid although they are the one that mostly works fewer hours. 

The minimum wage system incorporates workers being paid per hours they have worked, whilst the salary system where employees have a fixed amount of money they get monthly or every two weeks. This means that at the moment where they haven’t worked, they do not get paid, and this would have an advantage to employers during this pandemic. Even though it could be a disadvantage to employees, at least in the minimum wage system they get money worth their time not like in the other form of payment where they are exploited and paid less.

In general, people are now coping with technological ways of doing things which is where the world is going and they will be an improvement of Educational systems by fully implementing online courses and technology use.

Reference

  • Jay, R., 2020. The Benefits Of Remote Work. [online] FlexJobs Job Search Tips and Blog. Available at: <https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/benefits-of-remote-work/> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
  • George, P., 2018. The Advantages Of Minimum Wage. [online] Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at: <https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-minimum-wage-2773.html> [Accessed 29 April 2020].