Africa Friend says internet is key
Encouraging internet for rural meetings and hybrid leadership during pandemic
Expanding internet connectivity in rural areas in Africa is key to bringing Friends together through the pandemic, a leading Quaker has said.
Speaking from Kenya, Bainito Wamalwa, Africa Section clerk for Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), told the Friend that while many African countries have experienced fewer infections and deaths than anticipated, they could be on the cusp of a ‘second wave’.
‘Most of the countries, excluding northern Africa and south Africa, are doing well in terms of infections, compared to northern hemisphere countries,’ he said. ‘Our worry was especially for Tanzania and Burundi, but so far their infections and deaths are very much lower than Rwanda and Kenya.’
Kenya has had around 7,000 reported cases so far, he said, a comparatively low number mostly due to strict restrictions. These include a 7pm to 6am curfew, later eased to 11pm to 4am, and lockdowns of some towns and Nairobi and Mombasa. After opening the three-month lockdown, however, Bainito Wamalwa said the virus ‘has spread across the country and the figures are rising in rural areas’.
There have been challenges in technology too for rural areas, although some urban African Friends have been able to connect over Zoom during the crisis. A way to improve this, he said, would be ‘to install internet connectivity to one in every five Meeting houses, particularly in rural areas, where most people do not have smart phones’.
‘Last week, six of us went round to Yearly Meetings in Kenya – including two of us from FWCC, two from Friends United Meeting, and two from Kenyan Churches in Leadership – and the one thing that came out was confusion, about how we can open churches.’ He added that the majority of leaders are above the age of sixty and more vulnerable to the virus, adding to the stress.
Over the summer, Kenyan and global Friends raised around three million Kenya shillings (equivalent to roughly UK £3,000) for PPE in five hospitals in Kenya, three in Burundi and one in DR Congo, as well as supporting those affected by the floods and landslides in Kenya, which left nearly 200 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
‘We still have a lot to generate,’ he added. ‘This is the first phase of the pandemic hitting Africa. From doctors we are hearing that we are going to have a second [phase] and when it comes, we still have the challenge of age. Therefore we need to think about leadership succession and start identifying young people for leaders so they are ready to take up the mantle. We are encouraging Yearly Meetings to develop a more hybrid leadership.’
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