Get Together

Are you sick and tired of hearing about Covid-19? Yeah, me too. Take three minutes and look at life on the continent of Africa, in the home of the Serengeti and Mount Kilimanjaro. This is Tanzania.

Video link: Africa Drive-by

Before you watch, let me explain what the video is about and how it was shot. We’ve have record rains and flooding here recently in Tanzania. It’s normal for the Masika (monsoon), but it’s been extreme this year. We actually had a roaring river develop near our property two days ago where there’s never been one. It’s normally just a cornfield! There has been flooding in many areas, bad enough to close some major highways. Three people in the area drowned yesterday. There are many other tragedies unfolding right now.

It’s been dark, dreary, and Seattle-like for a week now, so, having been largely cooped up in the house and feeling something akin to Seasonal Affective Disorder, we decided to go for a little drive today when the sun made a surprise appearance.

That turned out to be a great idea. Along the way, we saw the flooding in the Arusha and Manyara areas, but more importantly, we saw lots of Tanzanian people, whom I love to photograph. Because of the region we were in, they were most from the Maasai tribe.

As we drove, I couldn’t get over how colorful and gorgeous they were, so I started doing some drive-by shootings—with my iPhone. I captured some interesting pictures showcasing the African landscape, now flooded but still stunning. You can see the people going about their normal business, inconvenienced but undeterred by Mother Nature’s fury. Most of the shots were taken while the car was moving, so you’ll see some blurry ones. Please pardon that.

As we drove, I felt my recent depression brought about by the pandemic and bad weather wash away under the sunshine, replaced by hope and joy as I realized that nothing will stop my fellow Tanzanians from going on: not disease, not flood. We will persevere.

It also made me think about some of the things that social media has been bombarding us with lately: people hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer and basically just bashing the living hell out of each other, driven almost entirely by which political philosophy they follow.

In America, we are not pulling together. We are fighting a war within a war: human versus virus, and progressive versus conservative.

I made the connection in particular when we came across a group of people trying to cross a flooded area. An old woman was trying to cross, and even the dogs came out to help! In a series of other shots, you see others linking arms to help each other navigate the strong water.

Getting back to the toilet paper and inconvenience: can I give you some perspective? This is not a sermon but rather insight from a different continent that has its own battles. It might help you feel better about the difficult situations that are being faced in the US right now and allow you to take comfort in what you have, because chances are you have quite a bit of wealth in the worst of times compared to many Africans in the best of times.

1. Most Tanzanians don’t have a toilet in their house. They have outhouses with a drop toilet in the ground. No toilet paper. Just a bucket of water next to the toilet to rinse the toilet and your undercarriage with.

2. Many don’t have even running water. Next time you’re able to take a nice warm bath, remember that most people here have never seen one. If they have a hot shower, they boil water over an open fire or small gas stove and ladle it over themselves. To me, it’s a delightful way to shower, but it also makes me long for the hot showers from home, with actual water pressure.

3. Electricity (for those who have it) is off more than it’s on. You know how irritating it is when your power goes off once a year for maybe 10 minutes because of storms? Imagine having it off all day, for several days in a row. And then that cycle repeats. All the time.

4. There is no real access to medical care. Even if you can find a decent doctor, the small fee they charge is unaffordable by most. God help us as the Coronavirus spreads. There will be little help or equipment for those who get really ill.

5. Most people don’t have a car, forcing them to resort to crowded buses and vans, with essentially zero protection from those who might be carrying the virus. I am one of the lucky ones with my own car, so I am isolated if I need to go out.

6. The internet sucks. Bandwidth runs out quickly, and it’s totally unreliable. It took me over 10 tries just to get this post to upload. Gawd I miss Xfinity high speed UNLIMITED internet!!

So next time you reach for some toilet paper and find only an empty cardboard tube, take a moment and remember that life could be even harder. And take a moment to listen to this song, too. It gives me perspective, too.

• Love is but a song to sing
  Fear’s the way we die
  You can make the mountains ring
  Or make the angels cry
  Though the bird is on the wing
  And you may not know why
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Some may come and some may go
  We shall surely pass
  When the one that left us here
  Returns for us at last
  We are but a moment’s sunlight
  Fading in the grass
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  If you hear the song I sing
  You will understand (listen!)
  You hold the key to love and fear
  All in your trembling hand
  Just one key unlocks them both
  It’s there at your command
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  I said, come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Right now
  Right now
• Writer/s: CHESTER POWERS, CHESTER WILLIAM JR. POWERS
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Here’s the video link again. Enjoy!

Africa Drive-by

– Badger OUT. Peace.