As we head in to another 4 week lockdown people seem to be feeling fatigue. I worry for some. But there is good news out there. For 2 months I have been tracking the infection rate in a local area (5 MSOA areas combined for the geeks).
From this you can see the rate flattens – this is just before Tier 3 was introduced. Tier 3 has resulted in a sharp drop. Remember the first lockdown – the curve went up fast and came down slow – well this curve seems to be coming down at the same rate it has gone up – and we have not yet seen the effect of the lockdown, or the mass testing that started today. It looks like good news.
Over 150 years ago the Choctaw nation (one of the “civilised tribes”) were displaced from their homeland by the white settlers. Some estimate 1500 to 4000 died on the journey. A man of Irish decent, William Armstrong, became the superintendent of indian affairs in the region. He was reported to be somebody that lived by principles, and was considered part of the community.
Then came the Irish potato famine, and William called a meeting of the settlers in the area to raise money to send back to support people in Ireland. He raised $170 (over $5000 in todays money). They discovered that most of the money did not come from white settlers, but from the Choctaw elders. They felt empathy for the people that were starving in Ireland.
Recently there has been an appeal set up to help native americans in their struggle to cope with COVID. The appeal has gone viral in Ireland, and people there have donated $1m so far – often with notes of thanks linking back to the potato famine support.
Sometimes good breeds good breeds good.
There is good in the world – we sometimes just need to look for it – and sometimes we need to be it.
Why not go visit the campaign and scroll down to see the messages – and maybe add a donation of your own.