Now we know who the real heroes are.

The last few weeks have made all of us appreciate the various professions that we always knew were important but didn’t really appreciate the extent of their importance. Kinda reminds me of the statement “you don’t know what you have got until it’s gone”. Below is a list of my real heroes. Feel free to add more in the comments section. By the way this isn’t in any particular order. I am just writing these as they come to mind.

1. Teachers – there is a video that went viral last week. In this video, an Israeli mum of four complains about teachers sending too much work for each of her four children to work on because of the early closure schools as a way to social distance. She rants that she only has two computers in her house and how the children are fighting. She complains about one teacher wanting to have a zoom call at 8 in the morning and how the work she is expected to help with is exposing her ignorance to her children. If you didn’t get a chance to watch this video, have a look at it here.

I am sure the video was meant to be humorous but it also made me wonder if there is real understanding of the real work that teachers have in educating our children. I come from a family of teachers. Three of my sisters are teachers, my husband is a former teacher and so were his two sisters. Even I had a three months teaching stint during one of my varsity breaks. I remember accompanying my sister to her class after church on Sunday to prepare for the following week. I remember spending some Saturday mornings with her as she went through the students work. And I also remember my sisters being busy preparing lesson plans for the term during the last two weeks of the school holiday. I think she called it “scheming ” and “planning “. The fact that our governments underpay teachers doesn’t make their work less important. It simply means their priorities are misplaced. I hope the lockdowns and closure of schools actually help highlight the importance of the teaching profession and bring the much needed reforms starting with teacher remuneration especially those in public schools.

2. Maids/Nannies/House helpers – I was following a discussion on one Facebook group as people discussed how the social distancing and eventually lockdown was going to impact on the ability of their maids to come to work. Some were getting their maids to move in with them during the lockdown. For others the maids needed to also be with their families during the lockdown. All of a sudden there was a realisation of the importance of the maid’s role. Not only are people working from home, children are also at home and the helpers are also with their own families so there is a whole lot of work to do. Just because a job doesn’t require four years of training to do it doesn’t make it any less important. I hope this makes everyone realise the important role helpers play in their employers families and give them the respect they deserve.

3. Healthcare workers (nurses,doctors etc.) – this one almost seems like a no brainer but its worth mentioning that these guys are already at the forefront of fighting this epidemic. Leaving their families especially during this crisis is a risk as they might be infected. Even though some governments are not treating health care professionals properly (I shall not mention any names), citizens are fully aware that if we are going to fight and win against this pandemic, we will need to have healthcare professionals who are fully equipped with to do their jobs. With that said, I am inviting you to contribute to the GoFundMe initiative that is is raising funds to fight the pandemic in Zimbabwe. Please follow the link here and give generously.

4. Finally for me, mothers in general are heroes right now. They are working their usual jobs from homes, those who are entrepreneurs are trying to keep their businesses afloat with potentially no income for the next three weeks, they are trying to keep children who are out of school busy and entertained within four walls and all this sometimes without any help. There are definitely some fathers out there who are stepping up to the challenge. They are heroes and i celebrate them too.

Who are your real heroes since this crisis began? Let me know in the comments section. Stay safe, stay at home and remember to wash your hands

Mum in stilettos