Shocking Covid-19 Pandemic, Across all Age Groups

               Around December 2019, the attention of the world was captured by the advent of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first identified during that time in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. Having spread globally resulting in an ongoing pandemic, there are more than 4.8 million cases, 318,000 deaths and counting, and over 1.78 million recoveries reported across 188 countries, territories, and international conveyances.

            It is known to mostly affect older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes, and the same are at a higher risk of developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness. The symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People showing symptoms of cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, new loss of taste of smell, may have COVID-19. Less common symptoms include nausea, vomitting, and diarrhoea. 

        Covid-19 does not discriminate with regards to age, race or cultural background, it has affected everyone from all walks of life worldwide, hence caution has to be taken at all fronts. Its course is unpredictable and people are advised to wear masks when others are nearby, wash hands regularly, use hand sanitizers, keep social distancing and follow instructions from respective governments and leaders. My desire is that a vaccine/ cure may be found as soon as possible and I sincerely wish everyone good health and safety. 

UNAIDS - Brave Girl Rising and Dignitaries Panel

                        On 27th November 2019, UNAIDS and the Permanent Missions of Mexico and The Netherlands organised the screening of a documentary known as Brave Girl Rising. it was based on the true story of a young and brave Sudanese girl growing up at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, East Africa. The documentary illustrated the conditions young girls must go through in order to survive one of the harshest environments for anyone their age. Staff from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations (UN) and other UN agencies were present.

        It was followed by a panel discussion immediately afterwards involving Mary Maker, a young Sudanese woman who grew up and spent many years in the same refugee camp. Fortunately, she received a scholarship to study in the USA. Other panelists included Ambassadeur Raul Heredia of Mexico, Monique T. G. Van Daalen of The Netherlands, Ms. Margarida Rosa Da Silva Isata of Angola, and Claudia Garcia-Moreno, a medical officer at WHO. It was moderated by Shannon Hader, UNAIDS Deputy-Executive Director of Programmes.



                 Mary Maker (holding microphone) airs her experiences and views 
     

                              It was part of the "16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" following the "International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women" on 25th November. It was a unique event that carries the lines of hope against injustices towards girls, young women and women that still continues worldwide.

Magnus Carlssen, Record Setting and Breaking World Chess Champion

    At the tender age of 13 Magnus Carlssen became a chess grandmaster, the highest title a player can hold. The Norwegian later became one of the youngest ever World Chess champions at 23 by defeating the legendary Viswanathan Anand in 2013, he’s still the reigning champion.

               He was introduced to the game aged 5 and played in his first tournament at 8, later competing successfully against the world’s strongest grandmasters by 2007. He surpassed an Elo rating of 2800 in 2009 and reached No. 1 in the FIDE (The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation) rankings in 2010, thereby becoming the youngest person ever to achieve such feats.

      After retaining the world title in 2014 he also won both the World Rapid Championship and World Blitz Championship, thereby becoming the first player to simultaneously hold all three titles. This allowed him to reach the highest peak rating in history with 2882.

                  I must admit to understanding and playing chess from around age 9, but without total commitment to the game as a profession due to priority for school and tradition, it could have been very difficult for me to accomplish such. Carlssen’s story is a genuine inspiration that from a young age with motivation, practice, unwavering belief, commitment and focus, everything is possible.

Former FIFA World Player of the Year elected Liberian President

        George Weah, former Liberian international footballer and still the only African player ever to win the FIFA World Player of the Year/ Ballon d’Or, was elected President of his country in late December 2017 and sworn in January 2018. This was the nation’s first peaceful transition of power since 1944.

            It continues the pathway to great hopes noting he succeeded the country’s and continent’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and years after a combination of two dreadful civil wars that lasted between 1989 and 2003.

                    Liberia is special as the first African nation to gain independence in 1847, and its early presidents since then were freed African American slaves from US mainland, for many years before they got their first indigenous leader. All the best for Liberia and its people as they continue on a promising future in a continent that greatly yearns for such examples.

ONE Youth Ambassadors making milestones in ending Global Poverty

                  ONE Youth Ambassadors is an initiative that seeks to empower more than 100 activists across Europe to carry out the fight against extreme poverty. They campaign locally, nationally and online. ONE thinks that the youth is a state of mind, therefore they seek applications from anyone between 16 and 35 years old with the odd space available for outstanding candidates who are over 35 but still young at heart.

    Ambassadors would become leaders for the ONE Campaign in their communities and beyond, and carry out a variety of creative, ambitious, and innovative actions in support of their advocacy work, particularly around the European elections. 

                               Their tasks include writing to and meeting their local Members of Parliament and candidates for the European elections, lobbying members of the European Parliament, meeting with influential decision-maker, campaigning using social media, organizing and delivering local events/presentations, writing letters to local media, recruiting new members and attending ONE events.

       ONE believes this is a critical moment in the fight against extreme poverty. From 1990 to 2000, global extreme poverty dropped from 43% of the worlds’ population to 33%. From 2000 to 2010, extreme poverty worldwide went down again to 21%thereby cutting it in half over the past twenty years. If this trend continues, extreme poverty can be virtually eliminated by 2030.

Angry Kibera NYS members demonstrate and burn toilet

       Today morning, 23rd June, there was tension and heavy police presence in the Kibera neighbourhood of Nairobi County, Kenya, as the youth from the National Youth Service (NYS) protested against Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru. On Monday evening, the youth set ablaze a public toilet that had been built by the NYS. 

                      A police headquarters statement noted that the youth numbered about 300 and started demonstrating yesterday evening 7pm at Kibera’s Olympic stage, where they lit bonfires and barricaded the road.

 

                                                                            Part of the public toilet that was burnt

             

         They wore NYS- branded t-shirts and marched to Parliament buildings and Office of the President chanting; “Hatutaki siasa, tunataka maendeleo” (We don’t want politics, we want development). This is a common cry for the Kenyan youth in general who occasionally feel shortchanged by the government when it comes to jobs and other opportunities.

 

 

                             I hope that a long term solution is found as the events unfold so that no more damage occurs especially in Kibera that hosts one of the world's largest informal settlements, and requires massive upgrades.

 

he National Youth Service (NYS) is the pride and backbone of our nation whose focus has been to help the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. - See more at: http://nys.go.ke/public/index.php#sthash.QEaN7LlJ.dpuf

he National Youth Service (NYS) is the pride and backbone of our nation whose focus has been to help the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. - See more at: http://nys.go.ke/public/index.php#sthash.QEaN7LlJ.dpuf

he National Youth Service (NYS) is the pride and backbone of our nation whose focus has been to help the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. - See more at: http://nys.go.ke/public/index.php#sthash.QEaN7LlJ.dpuf

he National Youth Service (NYS) is the pride and backbone of our nation whose focus has been to help the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. - See more at: http://nys.go.ke/public/index.php#sthash.QEaN7LlJ.dpuf

he National Youth Service (NYS) is the pride and backbone of our nation whose focus has been to help the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. - See more at: http://nys.go.ke/public/index.php#sthash.QEaN7LlJ.dpuf

Racism/ Indoctrination? Dylan Roof, 21, kills 9 in South Carolina, USA

               At Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States, on the evening of June 17, 2015, the members were having a Bible Study. A 21 year old young man, Dylan Storm Roof, opened fire and shot nine black people dead including the senior pastor who is also a South Carolina state senator, Clementa C. Pinckney. A tenth victim was also shot but survived. The church is one of the United States' oldest black churches and has long been a site for community organization around civil rights.
         
                Joseph Meek Jr., of Lexington, S.C., told the Associated Press regarding Roof, “He said blacks were taking over the world. Someone needed to do something about it for the white race”. According to his roommate, Roof expressed his support of racial segregation in the United States and had intended to start a civil war.

Left: Dylan Storm Roof

                 One image from Roof’s Facebook page showed him wearing a jacket decorated with the flags of two nations noted for their white supremacist and racial segregation policies, apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia. Another online photo showed Roof sitting on the hood of his parents' car with an ornamental license plate with a Confederate flag on it.

Right: Roof with a jacket decorated with the flags apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
       

       Roof attended several schools in two counties, including White Knoll High School in Lexington, in which he repeated the ninth grade, finishing it in another school. After that point, he apparently stopped attending classes, and according to his family, he dropped out of school and spent his time alternating between playing video games and doing drugs.
           
      This was yet another heartbreaking story from the US regarding racism, mass shooting, gun ownership and gun violence. My best wish and prayers similar to most people around the world is that we don’t get to hear and watch such news again. Unfortunately your guess is as good as mine so long as these issues aren’t addressed and children aren’t brought up properly.