30 May 2021

High levels of poverty and crowded dwelling areas make communities susceptible to COVID-19 as they have proven to be super spreaders.

University of Botswana’s Professor Oitshephile Modise said in an interview that redefining vulnerability in the era of COVID-19 has revealed that the strategies of social distancing and frequent hand washing were not easy for people living in unplanned crowded settlements, low income communities and insecure housing with poor sanitation.

Prof. Modise said the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought into focus the complexity and interrelatedness of physical and mental well-being with cultural and societal structures and the need for responses that could bridge the complexity and reflect the global diversity.

Vulnerable populations like the poor, people with disabilities, people living in remote areas and unplanned settlements and the older adults, she said, could be counted among the vulnerable in Botswana.

Due to limited economic power as a developing nation, Prof. Modise said government might not be able to engage in studies that could help illuminate vulnerabilities to COVID-19 and respond appropriately.

She therefore indicated that in an effort to further expose unseen and alternative narratives of the impact of the pandemic to vulnerable communities, Botswana Research Hub was conducting a study dubbed ‘Whose Crisis,’ to explore the lived experiences of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities in Botswana.

With the pandemic already adding unprecedented pressure on communities in Botswana, which already live with many other urgent health and social economic issues, Prof. Modise stated that the research would create a platform and a pathway for understanding and exchange for societal, health, economic sustainability within vulnerable communities during the pandemic.

“The current situation calls for genuine engagement, innovative methods and appropriate communications to attend ethically to vulnerable communities and households in Botswana to better understand the dynamics of COVID-19,” she said.

Prof. Modise noted that the study would engage adult participants to get their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and experiences in relation to their social and cultural day to day lives.

“This initiative will support interconnectivity, a plurality of perspectives and a more balanced response to COVID-19 as well as inform related global health issues,” she said.

She further said the main outputs were the documentations of the experiences of COVID-19 at community and household level across sub-Saharan Africa, adding that digital artifacts would vary from audio narratives to written accounts and stories and materials brought together in COVID-19 Global Voices Hub.

However, based on the development of the resource, she said outputs would extend and connect to academic articles analysing the complexities and insights provided by the research in the context of the pandemic. ends