Stories: Series I

Series I: The Lives of Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lily Kuo of the The Guardian describes the 100 days in Wuhan after the Coronavirus pandemic began as the days that changed the world. There has never been a time in modern history where all humanity was facing the same challenge, when we were all interconnected by crisis.

When the world is forced to look back for answers, will your story be heard? How would you like it to be told?

Juliana Mustapha (Niger)

Covid-19 is a very scary disease. Unfounded information makes you more afraid of the disease. It was annoying because we were working from home (telecommuting) and frustrating because some people in the community didn’t take it seriously until we had cases of Covid-19 and deaths in the area. After two weeks of voluntary confinement, I…

Lebopo Bulayani (Botswana)

Not only did covid 19 change lives of entrepreneurs, depressed us, but it also made us think of ways in which we can survive and adapt to the changing times of this world hit deadly disease.For the first time in 3 years of my business operation I was forced to close down my business and…

Mosa Chobokoane (Lesotho)

THE LIFE REIMAGINED-MY COVID-19 EXPERIENCE. When I first learned of the Coronavirus in November 2019, I thought it so remote to us. I never foresaw myself in the midst of a complete lockdown, relentlessly praying we see another day. It was not until I found myself paralysed with fear weeks before the first national lockdown…

Mpho Mathaba (Lesotho)

Today marks two months and ten days since I completed high school; I am one of the lucky ones as they say. I recently received my final high school results and instead of thinking about the next step from here, my mind is going through how despite the difficulties, I may have been lucky after…

Idris Ola (Nigeria)

Riding Against The Pandemic Tide; A Short glimpse through the eyes of a Lagos doctor Throughout my medical training, we were constantly reminded that our training was next to the soldiers in terms of rigor. More than ever before, I had the real feel of what it means to be a soldier at the battlefront,…

Thato Chobokoane (Lesotho)

From Ireland to Lesotho During a Pandemic As my flight did a descent into the Mountain Kingdom, I was quickly disillusioned by how missing home had caused me to romanticize the place. I dreamt of the dreamy lush, green valleys I would be coming home to. I dreamt of the waterfalls and lakes and saw…

Sadio Sogoba (Mali)

Covid-19 in Koutiala It all began as a story, people were talking about it as a new illness but it sounded very far away. Some people said that the virus of Covid-19 doesn’t survive the temperature of Mali and some other people even said that it wasn’t a sickness for Muslims.  And one bad day…

Lily Mugane (Kenya)

Lily is a wife and mum to 2 girls and 1 boy residing in Nairobi, Kenya. I am an engineer by training currently working as a project finance professional in the telecoms industry. My typical day revolves around my family, work and volunteer opportunities all around me. Covid 19 came and made everyone rethink their…

Fati Mahmoud Wattigi (Ghana)

Being a Muslim has taught me to give thanks to God in every situation, being it good or bad. Though I didn’t have expectations, I was always saying 2020 will be my year. This year looked good when it started until the fear of the unknown set in my mind due to covid 19. I…

Kevin Gnagne (Côte d’Ivoire )

When the pandemic began to hit our country, and the number of cases of Covid 19 began to increase, the city of Abidjan by order of the authorities came into confinement and was isolated from the rest of the country in order to stop the progression of the virus. We have also witnessed the establishment…

Gloria Mwenge Bitomwa (DRC)

Wildlife conservation is one of the key areas where much efforts need to be invested with if we truly love this planet yet it’s the forgotten aspect of daily management of a country until it’s too late and we all have to start screaming ‘save the planet’. What does save our planet mean? For some…

Chifundo Chibaka(Malawi)

Recently CorpsAfrica partnered with MasterCard Foundation and as a CorpsAfrica volunteer I was presented with an opportunity to design and work on a Covid- 19 project with the people in my site. The generous grant that was made available was meant to support vulnerable groups of individuals to protect themselves from the pandemic. I decided…

Tshepo Ntokozo Hlope (Kingdom of Eswatini)

Where cases of COVID 19 were reported, there was sealing off of that geographic area, banning entry and exit of population from the containment area, there was closure of schools, offices and banning public gatherings, all suspected cases were isolated, any building including, trade centers were designated as a containment unit for the isolation of…

Puleng Zacharia (South Africa)

August 2020, I have lost count of the number of days that have passed by since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the country-wide lockdown. I live alone with my furball Bambi, but in the first week of August I made a decision to acquire another furbaby, a pure-bred husky with heterochromia eye condition. Why? because Bambi…

Christina Van Hooreweghe Ngoy (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The new coronavirus 2019, or COVID-19, is an infectious disease that has created a catastrophic global public health crisis. In Africa, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in February 2020 in Egypt. Since then, the pandemic has spread to 53 of 54 African countries. In DRC, the end of the state of health emergency…

Sesséa Lidwine Ganmavo (Benin)

So many first times, and still you have to dare! Cloth mask turned into clothing pageant washed every morning simultaneously with my personal belonging! Monthly budgeting of Artemisia (plant of the family of sagebrush, real bomb against malaria I’ve been told, and maybe in herbal medicine, a cure for this virus). Although the systematic washing…

Hugues Lokossa(Benin)

COVID19 has become the bedrock for social entrepreneurship in Benin. I had already made my decision to leave my former employer because I wanted a new challenge that would put me on the frontline of the difficulties my country faces, but I did not know that I was going to experience uncertainty in this dimension.…

Allan Nasoro (Malawi)

The perilous Covid-19 pandemic is a revolutionary multifaceted health problem that has affected every country across the globe. According to the World Health Organization the pandemic has affected over 5 million people and has claimed over 362 Thousand lives globally as of 30th May 2020. Malawi is no exception as it has 279 confirmed cases…

Dr. Kopano N. Mokale (South Africa)

Day 55 of South Africa’s lockdown and I am in my private study with a cup of rooibos tea, while Lo-Fi jazz sets the mood. As one of three public clinicians serving the community of Pampierstad, South Africa, this is a far-cry from what I have been bracing myself for, or what I would normally…

Thakane Rethabile Shale (Lesotho)

Lessons while in Lockdown By Thakane Rethabile Shale Kingdom of Lesotho. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1-8 says ” There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill…

Gail Motloung (South Africa)

Hi, my name is Gail M and I’m the founder of Girl with a Purpose Foundation, a registered non-profit organization aimed to equip and empower youth. Although it was tough to cancel most of our programs this year, such as our annual speech competition, monthly pads drive, birthday celebrations, etc. due to the lockdown and…

Juma Mkwela (South Africa)

My name is Juma Mkwela and in the best of times, I’m busy running Juma Art Tours – a social enterprise connecting the most vulnerable of Capetonians with the people visiting the Mother City* through art, bicycling, and gardening. We connect visitors and locals through responsible tourism that create sustainable projects. The visitors get to connect with locals through…

Pa O. Diallo (Senegal)

The younger generation in its whole have always been the audience of ‘history tellings’ through books and certain studies which sometimes have some reserve regarding the truth. That is to say if that generation did not attend the Coronavirus pandemic, they would see it the same way they did with events that can be considered…

Chelvin Ramsamy (Mauritius)

Youth Leader from Mauritius Combating COVID-19: SAREPTA Initiative Passionate about making a positive contribution to society since his life-changing journey at the President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI Cohort 17) in South Africa in May 2019, Chelvin Ramsamy from Mauritius who works as Special Assistant Advisor (Regional Integration) at the AUC Bureau of the…

Lesedi Senamele Matlala (South Africa)

Education is a fundamental human right that is globally recognized and recorded in many education policies, including among African countries. As a research educationalist and young leader in the education space, making sure that learning is taking place during this epidemic crisis is what has being keeping me busy. In South Africa, the concerns of…

Donald Bico Kariseb (Namibia)

Namibia has not really been hit by Covid-19 in a very harsh way. However our daily life has been affected. The major effect of Covid-19 here has been the lockdown. Personally as an essential service being at the forefront of the News it has not been easy to watch how alot of people are affected…

SAREPTA Initiative (Mauritius)

As a young African leader, I would like to share the story of a group of young heroes leading during the COVID-19 crisis in Mauritius through SAREPTA Initiative which is a voluntary community action to help vulnerable families. (Loveena S. Sungkur) SAREPTA: YOUNG HEROES LEADING IN CRISIS TIMES COVID-19, the CoronaVirus Pandemic has brought around 210 countries…

Azil Momar Lo (Senegal)

In my whole modest career as a researcher/fact-checker, never have I witnessed so much misinformation and disformation, as Covid-19 is wreaking havoc upon the world. Studies have shown that fake news travel faster through messaging apps like Whatsapp. I bet each one of us has at least once received a message advising us to try…


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