Hope amidst vulnerability
Foreword by Nico Koopman
In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, the famous public speaker, writer and intellectual, CS Lewis, addressed the campus community of Oxford University.1 He commented that while times of crisis often led to an intensification of personal and societal challenges, they could also herald an intensification of the human capacity for resilience and innovation.
In South Africa the pandemic has allowed for the intensification, magnification and acceleration of existing societal challenges like poverty, unemployment, inequality, poor service delivery, failure of state-owned enterprises, decline of democracy, corruption, violence, and polarisation along the lines of political and economic ideology, colour, class, culture, creed, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age and nationality. During the pandemic, issues that have long existed, but which have often remained just below the surface, were exposed and amplified. These issues affected university campuses. Students who come from poor backgrounds sometimes experienced the impact of poverty, unemployment and inequality to such an extent that they returned early to campus residences, so that they could access goods and services that they could not afford whilst at home.
The diary notes of the students of an Economics class at Stellenbosch University focused on the first month of the pandemic. They reveal the intensification of students’ anxieties and fears, as well as of their hopes and capacity for innovation. These students share stories that enhance our understanding and our responses to the pandemic. When they wrote these reflections, we were under the impression that the pandemic was a sprint; that it would soon be over if we were obedient and responsible in adhering to health and safety protocols. It later became clear that the pandemic would be a marathon, and then an ultra-marathon. For their generation, it may feel as if we are experiencing an era of pandemic. The diary entries provide ideas for dealing with the pandemic in the present, but also outline a vision (or many visions) for a more humane, dignified and environmentally aware future.
It is noteworthy how students recognise their fragilities and vulnerabilities. Human beings are always vulnerable, but the pandemic heightened students’ awareness of these vulnerabilities. As the diary entries point out, students experienced both physical and psychological vulnerability amidst uncertainty, unpredictability, and powerlessness. Public communication that was not always factual, clarifying, or fear-reducing contributed to mental fatigue. The high speed of news transmission and the difficulties of distinguishing between factual news and fake news also increased students’ anxiety. Students were concerned that the constant sharing of news and statistics about the pandemic carried the risk of desensitising people to the effects of the virus.
Some students found it difficult to function and study in isolation. This confirms the worldwide appeal that we should speak about physical distancing, rather than social distancing. Social distancing carries the risk of becoming social isolation – and of precipitating a decline in social cohesion and solidarity. Amidst the threat of social isolation, one student, for example, felt that being home in a small space with family members was claustrophobic, though the joint watching of local soap operas provided some relief. Students also experienced and were subject to sentiments of Afro-pessimism. They struggled with the idea that Africans were not competent to deal with the virus, and that a cure would not emerge within this context.
Together with the awareness of vulnerability, there was also growth in gratitude for the resources that many students at Stellenbosch were able to access. The compassion and solidarity with those who are less privileged that were expressed by the more privileged students, are also remarkable and hope-giving. Some students practised the academic habit of scientific inquiry, with the purpose to address personal and public concerns constructively. Students did investigations into the way that societies dealt with pandemics in the past. One of them referred, for instance, to insights from La Peste of Albert Camus. Students contributed to various innovative responses that the pandemic calls forth, amongst others, hybrid modes of learning and teaching. A student who lives in a gangster-ridden neighbourhood, shares the hope-giving story of rival gangs in the township of Manenberg who entered into a peace accord during these weeks, and who even cooperated in distributing food, soap and other essential goods throughout the community.
There are countless such accounts in Life under Lockdown. These stories of our students have the capacity to inform and transform, illuminate and inspire, and to fill us with hope as we work to address the challenges that face us as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof Nico Koopman
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel
Stellenbosch University
Learning in War-Time – a sermon preached in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, Autumn, 1939; accessed on 12 December 2021 on www.bradleyggreen.com.↩︎