A new “virus” has appeared, namely, the hunger

“The coronavirus is a real problem, though in Nigeria with negligible impact, compared to the devastation induced by malaria, and above all by the hunger. On top, the restrictive measures taken in response to the pandemic, have further deteriorated the already catastrophic situation. Due to the Covid-19 all markets, being the only source of livelihood for many, many millions of people, had been shut down for six weeks. 150 million out of the 200 million inhabitants have no reserves, not even for a single day.” – told the founder of the Afréka Foundation to the newspaper gondola.hu. The doctor also talked about the emergency measures, upon which people were practically locked-up in their houses. In the name of hygiene and social distancing, masses of people were forced into a milieu of crowded, windowless rooms with an average of 15 persons living together without electricity and water. Thus a humanitarian cataclysm has evolved, with enormous famine. In this situation a new “virus” has appeared, namely the hunger. During my stay there, we did not even have a test in five out of six months, and when finally we got it, it turned out that many people had already been infected. Still, that is not the most serious threat, and nor is the fact that the malaria or AIDS are taking millions of victims. The most burning issue, as I’m going to repeat myself, is that while we are talking now, people are dying just because they have nothing to eat.”
Pursuant to her cry for help, a donation worth of HUF 93 million was sent from Hungary. This, with Archbishop Okeke’s effective support, could cover the costs of food and medical instruments. The Metropolitan thanked the Hungarian community’s cooperation in a video message. The recent six months have really been a heroic spiritual challenge for Dr. Réka Fodor, to cope with as a doctor, a mother, and a wife.
“There were rough times and I felt guilty about my family and my children. Still, in spite of the many hard days and events, there had always been a lot of good too, which helped me to overcome these difficult times I was going through. I had my ups and downs. I was sobbing for nights, I could not even sleep. I quarrelled with God. I saw the hunger, the death, the misery. Once, and that was really the final straw, I saw small children, aged about 10-11 working on a construction site, standing on the scaffold without the slightest insurance, plastering the building. (…)”
“I wanted to return home, I even started to organise my travel, but I could not come. At this moment –as a kind of a divine sign- I received an sms…saying that a donor sent us 10 million forints. Such an amount of which we were able to distribute rice to seven thousand families.”

Photo: Marcsi Ambrus
Source: gondola.hu