Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, social media and online communication have become essential tools for maintaining social connections. Moreover, many young people have been independently promoting positive narratives and engaging in peacebuilding activities during the COVID-19 crisis.
Our today's guest is Meury, she will share with us her original covid-19 song.
Ladies and gentlemen meet our singer Meury, with the song "Corona arrived and life changed."
Corona arrived and life changed
Let there be protection beginning with you, always wash your hands with water and soap
use alcohol gel to disinfect your hands
and do not forget that the mask you should use
Let there be Prevention to start with you, and do not forget that these tips you must fulfill
To protect you and your family and all of us, coronavirus should be avoided.
Let there be Prevention
We launched the “Corona Voice show” campaign to provide a space for young women and men around Angola to share their views, experiences and initiatives.
This is the first and the only Coronavirus show in Angola where the most ordinary citizens show their brilliant talents.
One of the main tasks of the show is to refute the saying "you can't help things with a word." The heroes of the program are the most ordinary citizens - they share with the audience their songs, poems and real stories of how the Coronavirus pandemic affected their lives.
The lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have interrupted conventional schooling with nationwide school closures. Many students confined at home due to COVID-19 may feel stressed and anxious, and this may negatively affect their ability to concentrate on schoolwork.
This webisode attempts to gain a better understanding of how the COVID-19 crisis may affect girls’ learning.
Our today's guest is Arieth, she will share with us the challenges she faces during the time of covid-19 pandemic.
How did Covid-19 impact me?
Hello, my name is Arieth Valentim, I study in the 13th grade at a public school and I'm from Angola.
Covid-19 came to teach me to be a more independent person, this changed my life completely. Before the pandemic I interacted more closely with people and this disease came to separate us.
Covid-19 limited me from doing certain things that I was used to doing and I can no longer walk in public places without the use of masks.
How did it impact your academic life?
My way of learning is not the same, before I had the possibility to interact with colleagues, and teachers attended classes regularly but today this is no longer done, from time to time I have been watching video lessons but the quality of teaching is not the same.
But I have been studying hard because the present moment requires a lot of effort.
Now that the schools have reopened, have you gone back to school?
Yes I went back to study with a lot of fear, first of all due to public transport and school security. We know that since then public schools have never offered pleasant environments and now with the emergence of coronavirus things have complicated.
Good protection measures against the covid-19 were not created, we do not have people who do the sanitation of the courtyards and classrooms. The only prevention measure I noticed is the hand washing in the school main gate, in general there is no strict prevention measure to protect students from the coronavirus.
Didn't you forget anything you learned before the pandemic?
I forgot many things, it's been a long time that we stayed at home without studying. In the beginning I even tried to continue but after I started feeling lazy because we had no guarantee that we would go back to study this year.
So far, it is also being strange, many limitations, but I have been interacting with my colleagues on the internet and this has helped me a lot.
Did the school distribute any bio-security material?
No, they didn't distribute.
How have teachers behaved?
On the part of the teachers some attend classes and others don't. Also due to the risky ages, we have many elderly teachers in our institution and this has caused students a lot of damage and loss of class, we are limited to learning certain things.
Physical school closure and the lack of in-person contact may make students less externally motivated to engage in learning activities.
The effect of COVID-19 on education poses some key challenges for policymakers. First, measures should be taken to ensure that more vulnerable students will be able to make up for the learning loss they experienced during the lockdown. This should be done quickly and effectively, in order to avoid that such crisis results in permanent education and economic inequality.
Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus would you like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Don't miss this opportunity to bring girls back to school.Tell us your story!
Angola’s Cabinet Council Monday in Luanda approved the National Covid-19 Vaccination Plan which contains the guidelines for the people immunization process.
According to a note from the 12nd Session of the Cabinet Council chaired by President João Lourenço, the National Vaccination Plan will reduce death and sickness rate, contribute to the wellbeing of the population and help resume the economic and social activity.
The source adds that the Angolan government assures that the vaccine is efficacious and free of charge and the vaccination will comprise two stages, with the first covering people more than 40 years of age and those with high exposition risks.
The second phase will cater for people with ages from 20 to 39 years, market vendors, public servisse drivers and the like, the source also says.
Angola will start receiving the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in February 2021, the Health minister announced Monday in Luanda.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the 12nd Session of the Cabinet Council, Sílvia Lutucuta said February next year is in line with the plan Angola got from the vaccines producing company, Covax ".
The minister explained that the 12 million doses will not arrive in the country at once, assuring that a substantial number of doses of the vaccine will be in the country until April next year.
According to the official, the vaccines are a donation from Covax Initiative that will fund the program.
She said Angolan government will provide for the operational costs and reinforcement of the cold storage facilities.
Minister Sílvia Lutucuta stated that until January next year, Angolan government will have put in place all logistics, including the cold complex for the conservation of the vaccines.
The National Covid-19 Vaccination Plan was approved Monday by the Cabinet Council, comprising two stages. The first will cover people older than 40 years and those with high exposition risks.
The second stage will involve people with ages from 20 to 39 years, market vendors, public service drivers and the like.
Angola has reported, in the last 24 hours, the recovery of 103 Covid-19 patients, 42 new infections and three deaths.
The information was released Monday evening in Luanda by the secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, during the daily Covid-19 update briefing.
According to the official, the recoveries have been recorded in southern Cunene province (38), northeastern Lunda Sul (35), Luanda (28) and central Huambo (02), with ages between six and 74 years.
The source added that the positive cases involve people with ages from 11 to 67 years, 32 males and 10 females.
The infections have been reported in the capital, Luanda, with 20 cases, northern Cabinda (12), Huambo (05), southeastern Cuando Cubango (03) and northern Uíge and Malanje with one each.
Mufinda said the dead are Angolan male nationals with ages from 42 to 74 years, from Cuando Cubango, Luanda and Uíge.
The official put Angolaiess Covid-19 figures at 16,686 infections, 390 deaths, 9,695 recoveries and 6,601 active patients.
A statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee that has represented Virginia in the United States Capitol for 111 years has been removed.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said in a statement that workers removed the statue from the National Statuary Hall Collection early Monday morning.
Northam had requested the removal and a state commission decided that Lee was not a fitting symbol for the state.
Lee’s statue had stood with George Washington’s statue since 1909 as Virginia9s representatives in the Capitol. Every state gets two statuses.
The state commission has recommended replacing Lee Thes statue with a statue of Barbara Johns. She protested conditions at her all-Black high school in the town of Farmville in 1951. Her court case became part of the landmark Brown vs Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court. The ruling had struck down racial segregation in public schools.
Confederate monuments have re-emerged as a national flashpoint since the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee on his neck for several minutes. Protesters decrying racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some have been taken down.
“The Confederacy is a symbol of Virginiaances racist and divisive history, and it is past time we tell our story with images of perseverance, diversity, and inclusion,” Northam said in a statement.
The Democratic governor added: “I look forward to seeing a trailblazing young woman of color represent Virginia in the US Capitol, where visitors will learn about Barbara Johns' contributions to America and be empowered to create positive change in their communities just like she did. "
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also hailed the removal, saying in a statement there “is no room for celebrating the bigotry of the Confederacy in the Capitol or any other place of honor in our country”.
The presence of statues of generals and other figures of the Confederacy in Capitol locations such as Statuary Hall - the original House chamber - has been offensive to African American lawmakers for many years. Former Representative Jesse Jackson Jr, an Illinois Democrat, was known to give tours pointing out the numerous statues.
But it is up to the states to determine which of their historical figures to display. Jefferson Davis, a former US senator from Mississippi who was president of the Confederate States of America, is represented by one of two statues from that state.
Pelosi, a Democrat from California, noted in June that Davis and Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, whose statue comes from Georgia, “were charged with treason against the United States”.
