As of the writing of this blog, there are officially 836 confirmed cases of Covid 19 in Chad with 68 deaths. Small quantities of masks have been made available by the government, with 600 being distributed on June 1st in the town of Mongo where our family once lived.
The government imposed a curfew, closed the airport, put in place major travel restrictions, closed schools and banned large gatherings like church, and yet life has not changed all that much for most people in Chad. The exception to this is those who have had the virus. While the illness continues to spread around the country, those who have survived the virus and been declared cured have a new struggle they may not have anticipated.
In Biblical times, lepers were required to live apart from the people, wear tattered clothes and call out “Unclean, unclean” wherever they went. They were shunned by the people. No one wanted anything to do with them for fear they would contract the disease.
Something similar is going on in Chad today. Mathias is a university student in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. He was one who contracted Covid-19, but he had no idea of the social aftereffects of the disease. His family, friends and neighbors have all rejected him. Rather than having compassion for Mathias, his family complains of how they have been humiliated because of him. Mathias was even given a health document that states that he is no longer contagious, but that has made no difference. Mathias is not welcome at home, and when he walks through his former neighborhood, he is mocked with the nickname, “Covid-19”. Thankfully, a local church stepped up and is allowing Mathias to stay at the church which was closed because of the pandemic.
Mathias is not the only person in Chad to have suffered from these types of aftereffects. A nurse also complained of being mocked by other medical staff and being called “Coronavirus”.
Hopefully these types of situations will be few and far between, but with the daily increase in cases, there will likely be many more who not only get this contagious disease but will also be faced with the shameful aftereffects.