ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
Ebola
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Tags: health, sanitation, infrastructure
Excellent question. "Infrastructure" is a foreign word in some African regions. Why? Because there has never been any in the first place.
Ebola is happening, and everyone is at attention (for the moment). If you ask me, this crisis is a forewarning to our people, their governments and community leaders to stop for a moment and review how we take care of our own waste (literally). At that point, the idea of blaming someone else for our problems becomes moot.
It is absolutely urgent not only to stop Ebola, but to spend time and money putting in place public sanitation infrastructure to match the various populated communities in all the sub-regions. Nothing fancy. But where you have humans, there are basic needs: water, food, clean air and… wait for it… sewage disposal infrastructure. The absence or poor state of this BASIC HUMAN SERVICE accounts for more disease and death in sub-Saharan Africa than anything else.
The question is: will African governments, leaders and people press for long-term solutions to this crisis and future ones, or settle for temporary aid that will fizzle out once this news cycle is over?
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 9–11
Understand
- Why does the author call infrastructure a "foreign word" in some regions?
- Which basic need does the author say is most neglected?
- What choice does the author say governments face after the crisis?
Grammar focus: the dash for suspense. "…clean air and, wait for it, sewage disposal." A pause (with commas or a dash) builds suspense before the key word, which makes it land harder.
Try it: Write a sentence that delays its most important word with "wait for it" or a dash.
Discuss: Should governments spend more on sanitation or on hospitals? Argue which saves more lives.