Learning is the most important element that teaches us all we have to know. When we learn we acquire; knowledge & facts. One must not only learn from their experience, rather a wise man learns from other’s experience as well. As a child when we would try to explore and put our hand in the fire and feel the pain we were reluctant to do it again, and similarly when we see someone else placing their hand in the fire and getting hurt, it would register in our mind that this act is painful. Isn’t it amazing how quickly a child can perceived safe and unsafe by seeing? If we see our life pattern, we have not stopped learning, we continue to learn and often discuss that knowledge with our friends and family. However, it seems like that we as a nation are not learning anymore.
2020 Pandemic of COVID 19, broke out in China in the last months of 2019. The world silently watched as China fought through thick and thin trying to save the people. An economically giant country losing its battle to a disease. It wasn’t until 2020 that people started to put a little thought in to it. Fast forward to the day when the first case was registered in Pakistan. People were still calm, no stress or tension was associated to this finding. Day by day news channels changed their content from talking about politics to the novel Coronavirus, and despite this, our people didn’t learn. Islam has guided us to read and learn, yet, we refused to read and learn from all the numbers that were put forward, and did not see the red flag. A lot of people would say, they were careful; but remember one bad fish spoils the tank, much like that, even if few people were taking precautions, many of us refused to give it a second thought. We saw it in front of our very eyes, world’s strong countries e.g. Italy fall in the wrath of coronavirus, registering thousands of deaths, yet as a nation we didn’t take timely action.
With universities closed and offices on “need” basis, the government has taken countless measures to protect and save the people, but you can’t save a drowning man if he doesn’t want to live. So, is it too late?
Not really, as long as we are alive, it’s not too late. It is important that we learn from this situation. That we use this to educate ourselves about how important it is to understand and accept the situation around us. Pakistan is a strong country, with individuals whose will can stand a lot of burdens on their shoulder, Did you know, According to the World development report 2019: The Changing nature of work: it was quoted that In Pakistan, the efforts of the Lady Health Worker Program, which provides health services in rural areas led to children under 3 years old being more likely to be fully immunized in 2008 than in 2000 by 15 percentage points. With collective efforts we can indeed bring about a positive change. There are a lot of things that you can do to help others around you.
Firstly, in the holy month of Ramzan try to make and have everything homemade; it’s always better to be safe than sorry. COVID 19 has 33 mutations as discovered by Chinese doctors, each mutation has different severity and perhaps who knows, even symptoms. The worst element is that we don’t know everything about this enemy virus. The world is struggling every day to learn and educate everyone about any discovery regarding COVID 19, however, there is still a lot to learn and till then, and it’s much safer to avoid food from outside and relay on homemade foods.
Secondly, try to share, instead of sending and exchanging food with neighbors and people you know, it’s better to send sealed and packaged food items e.g. date pack, juice bottle. You never know who is a silent carrier of the disease and therefore, its better not to risk yourself and others you know. Thirdly, Donate, the month of Ramzan brings about more kindness in people, and you can find countless verified avenues where you can transfer the amount and ration will be distributed among deserving families. It is very important to keep an open heart in this situation.
It’s a bleak time, and yes everyone is stressed due to the conditions around them, but it is very much important to not let the children feel hopeless, as it will affect their personality and mental health. According to the World development report 2019 quality early childhood development programs enable children to learn. Investments in nutrition, health, and stimulation in the first thousand days of life build stronger brains. The engagement of parents and caregivers during this phase also matters for the development of children’s language so if you are worried about your child learning abilities diminishing, or decreasing, give the children Lego blocks to play with. According to a study, ‘Advanced Constructional Play with LEGOs Among Preschoolers is a Predictor of Later School Achievement in Mathematics’ by Charles Wolfgang, Laura Stannard & Ithel Jones published in 2010, in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, it was found that ‘there is a statistical relationship between early LEGO performance among preschool and achievement in mathematics, not seen during the elementary school years, but later developing at the middle and high school level’.
Lastly, if you know anyone who is going through losing someone due to COVID 19 or has someone in the family that is a diagnosed with coronavirus; comfort them. Mental health of an individual is compromised in situations like these. Make sure to take out some time and ring them up, talk to them, hear them out, and if you know someone who is taking this virus lightly, as a citizen of this country try to educate them via call or face to face while keeping in mind social distancing. Remember United we stand and divided we indeed fall.
Great article!
thank you