By Lwasa Deric Hope
Growing up from the country side, life was somewhat a different adventure from what you see nowadays in your cities. Only a few in the community had access to television sets and as a result entertainment came from real architecture of childhood.
I remember at school during break time, the cool guys used to pull crowds to themselves to narrate a movie well translated by the famous VJ from KB videos (Kajjansi Boys). If you haven’t known that VJ, you are new to the Ugandan movie world. What a talent the cool guys were! Oh boy! They could narrate to detail even demonstrating the kicks that Bruce Lee could only pull off.
Now that it is forbidden to go out for movies, it is my opportunity to try out my luck and narrate a movie to you dubbed “Dilemma: covid aftermath”. This movie is based on true real events that actually happened! However I must say that it’s such a pity that they did.
While the screen was still black, you could hear footsteps of someone running and breathing heavily. From the sound of the breath you could tell that this was a young woman terrified by the moment.
Finally, the pictures appeared of a middle aged mother carrying a baby in her arms seemingly a few months into the world and two other toddlers running just behind her. She was aiming to reach a certain building which had arch designs on its windows and doors.
As she approached the building, a man clothed in a long gown from the inside of this building pulled the two swinging doors towards himself, closing himself from within. From a window he could be seen sorrowful and shaking his head in despair. An emotional voice, spoke gently, “sorry there is no help here”
Soldiers matched from the corners of the building just to make sure no body moves in and the desparate mother was running in confusion without direction.
Now hopefully the cliche` has given you a picture, let’s delve into the full story. On a second thought let me just tell you a few highlights.
The scenes of this movie were shot in a nation which was hit with fear, news spelt doom with updates of demise of famous people due to a global pandemic. However, they were edited out scenes from the popular movie.
A terrible tale befell a young woman, a mother of 3 who, having lost a son a year prior, experienced terror when the life of her husband yielded to an invisible life claiming monster. Alone and frightened, she had to reconstitute the lifeless body of the lost dear and take care of her little ones while protecting them from contradicting the same demon all at once. This included a 3 months old whom she had to breastfeed. No one could come to her rescue, who could dare to come face to face with something so pathogenic and yet incurable?
She had to spend the night alone as the only adult with a dead husband in the house, a needy baby and two demanding toddlers. Just imagine the trauma! What memories will the little ones have to accommodate through life. Before the misfortune happened, she had to play wife, mother and doctor because there was no room in hospital to accommodate her patient.
As if that wasn’t enough , the guidelines were strict against travel, the queen of sorrow had to work with the excruciating pain of losing a soul mate to find means of delivering the body to the burial grounds. Similarly, there were those who gave up and relied on fate because the place where life is supposedly revitalized was perceived to be the most dangerous to tread on.
Have you wondered what happens to these broken hearts, where are the menders? Is there a way to rehabilitate those left desolate after glum events or all they need are anxiety pills?
For so long we have heard our pride in second hand merchandise (mivumba in Greek), all in the name of being cheap and long lasting but this one we imported in; got worn and torn on its first owner’s back. The best we could use it for was to mop black charcoal stores, but we are desparate enough, actually naive to try it on.
In the wakefulness of the events, the truth is unveiling and all we consumed in the name of health and safety is slowly proving to be a bitter sugar coated tab that actually doesn’t provide remedy per say but rather remorseful after effects.
At the cross roads on the four path junction which path shall we take, will we continue submitting to science and trust it with our lives thinking that finally the mother hen will peck its hatched chick to death? Shall we hibernate just to dance on tunes of them that are profiting untill hunger devours us? Shall we continue to restrict the little ones from the privileges of childhood knowing the other side of the story? Shall we incubate ungodliness, because faith gatherings have been deemed non essential?
There is surely a green snake in this thick green grass, whoever defined essential things and didn’t consider faith gatherings should be subject to serious scrutiny! To the best of my knowledge, the state of the nation address didn’t recommend a hospital where the broken hearted and those seeking answers from their God should go and the ministry of health is yet to prescribe medicine and proper dosage for those experiencing demonic attacks!
What shall we do then? For long we have hearkened to thus saith the scientist diligently. Sad news is, the same people giving guidelines in this survival mode are the same who funded the gain of function research in Wuhan. Just how credible is his counsel and all the disciples thereof ofcourse, not forgetting the media proponents of this new normal phenomenon!
Science is good in its place. I am yet to know if in their places of work they speak in tongues just before looking through the microscope. God forbid that men and women of God should present covid permits to the believers if at all they are to lay hands on them. It seems that’s what is logical to the state as the case is elsewhere we are copying and pasting from. You can’t access a restaurant without the covid permit nor other public places and neither can you travel!
For more than once, the prophet of God to the nations, Prophet Elvis Mbonye has given accurate insights about the future and provided divine counsel thereof to prosper, preserve and enlarge nations; have we listened? Emphatically no!
There is still hope for the failing economy and the broken hearted citizens. As Mr. Policy maker, you solemnly swore and sealed the oath with “For God and my country” let now your actions speak, remove restrictions from worship. Limit your trust in thus saith the scientist and trust thus saith the Lord.
We can overcome if we look towards the direction from which the solution comes rather than magnifying the problem at hand. Having said that, I would like to bring to your memory a serious caution that ,”You can ignore God but you can not ignore the consequences of ignoring God
