Covid Stories from East Africa and Beyond

Buchanan Initiative For Peace & Nonviolence

Description

The coronavirus has rattled humanity, tested resolve and determination, and redefined normalcy. This compelling collection of 29 short stories and essays brings together the lived experiences of covid19 through a diversity of voices from across the African continent. The stories highlight challenges, new opportunities, and ultimately the deep resilience of Africans and their communities. Bringing into conversation the perspectives of laypeople, academics, professionals, domestic workers, youth, and children, the volume is a window into the myriad ways in which people have confronted, adapted to, and sought to tackle the coronavirus and its trail of problems. The experiences of the most vulnerable are specifically explored, and systemic changes and preliminary shifts towards a new global order are addressed. Laughter as a coping mechanism is a thread throughout.

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 11 novembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956551903
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

to reflections on structural issues.”

Psychologist and Conflict Transformation Counsellor

The coronavirus has rattled humanity, tested resolve and determination, and redefined normalcy. This

are specifically explored, and systemic changes and preliminary shifts towards a new global order are

Lived Experiences and Forward-Looking Reflections

Covid Stories from East Africa and Beyond Lived Experiences and Forward-Looking Reflections

E DITEDBY Mary Njeri Kinyanjui Roopal Thaker Kathryn Toure

Covid Stories from East Africa and Beyond: Lived Experiences and Forward-Looking Reflections Mary Njeri Kinyanjui Roopal Thaker Kathryn Toure (editors)

Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: Langaa RPCIG Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group PO Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com ISBN-10: 9956-551-54-6 ISBN-13: 978-9956-551-54-5 © 2020 Mary Njeri Kinyanjui, Roopal Thaker, and Kathryn Toure, copyright for each of the chapters is with the chapter author(s) To reference this book: Kinyanjui, M. N., Thaker, R., and Toure, K. (Eds.) (2020).Covid stories from East Africa and beyond: Lived experiences and forward-looking reflections. Bamenda: Langaa. Cover design includes a photo of a mixed media painting by Anna Rarity; see the end of the book for more information and her bio.

Praise for the Book It is inspiring to read the many voices of African women and men telling their stories, rich in the value systems of our cultures. The stories bring out the class issue as well. They endorse justice as a central issue of our continent. We are proud that Africaistelling its stories. Timely too! – Fatma Alloo, Founder, Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) * * * We are in a season of tremendous change, and it is important that we hear from Africa. As we move forward during the 21st century, while dealing with the consequences of covid19, we are challenged to examine our priorities and pivot to focus on what matters most. The writers of Covid Stories from East Africa and Beyond generously share what they’re encountering during the season of covid, but more importantly, they share their strategies of coping and resilience. Africa can help us understand ways to live our lives more fully. – Joanna Grace Farmer, Building Community Capacity… Remembering our Legacy of Love * * * This book, privileging the voices of ordinary people, will open your eyes to covid19’s impact on the African continent, the ways the virus has disrupted daily life, and how people are coping and adapting to the pandemic. – Michèle Foster, Professor and Henry Heuser Jr. Endowed Chair for Urban Education Partnerships, University of Louisville * * *

Covid Stories from East Africa and Beyond These covid19 stories are a revelation of our 360 degrees of human struggle and triumph – matters ultimately of heart, mind, body, and soul. These are all expressed in the chapters in personal and structural ways, addressing policy and practice, the macro and the micro. A new normal must-read... – Karindi Odindo, Psychologist and Conflict Transformation Counsellor * * * We are delighted by the publication ofCovid Stories from East Africa and Beyondand by its success in revealing how African people have responded to covid19 with resilience and creativity. – James Giblin, Professor of African History, and Blandina Kaduma Giblin, Lecturer in Kiswahili, University of Iowa * * * Brilliant and timely. This book shares the stories of real people during the coronavirus pandemic on the African continent. It shows people dealing in so many ways with this shocking moment in history when, like in some improbable science fiction movie, a deadly virus comes from nowhere with little or no warning and shuts down our lives. The question on everybody’s lips is “How will I cope?” The book provides valuable insights of how Africans were coping eight months into the pandemic. It begins with stories of everyday life and then gets into structural issues. – Sitawa Namwalie, Kenyan, Poet, Playwright and Performer * * *

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Praise for the Book The African continent is so diverse, yet these covid stories from East Africa and beyond resonate with experiences here in West Africa. Happy to see mention of Ghana, The Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria as well. – Adwoa Agyeman, Social change strategist and co-founder of EPIC-Africa, enhancing philanthropic impact * * * This is an important and extraordinary collection. With books and articles being written and published about life during this pandemic, this book is not just another one. It is gripping, depressing, inspiring, and very thoughtful about both the present and the future. Its authors are primarily women from African countries, but its reach ought to be far wider. Immediate reactions to the pandemic may be largely shared by people in many other regions of the world, but I love how this collection also asks about a post-covid19 world, how some things ought to change, how some things may well be transformed, what we might want in a post-pandemic world, and how that future world can learn from what this pandemic has made palpably visible. – Virginia R. Dominquez, Gutgsell Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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To all those who supported each other during covid19 and those who lost someone during the pandemic.

Acknowledgements Every book is a collective effort.This is no exception.Many people contributed in different ways to the realization ofCovid Stories from East Africa and Beyond: Lived Experiences and Forward-Looking Reflections.Through small acts like circulating the call for chapters, encouraging and supporting one or more of the authors or editors, or reviewing and commenting a chapter to two, people from diverse horizons have raised the quality of the overall oeuvre. We do not take your efforts or contributions for granted and cannot thank you enough. Please feel acknowledged and appreciated. Thanks to all those who in their daily endeavours invite interrogation of history and culture and power relations and promote understandings of African contexts in an interconnected continent and globalized world. Thanks, as well, to all those who support Langaa Research and Publishing to promote the circulation of stories and analysis about Africa and Africans and exposure to African worldviews and ways of thinking.