Celebrating a national state of emergency
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Why would my primary school daughters celebrate our country entering a national state of emergency? Because they understood why it was happening and knew how much it would help.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made me very proud to be a South African last night. He addressed the nation to outline the seriousness of the health crises and the steps our country is taking now to mitigate its impact.
My wife and I have been preparing our daughters for this moment. We read them seminal articles, explained key concepts, kept them up to date with global stats and scientific facts. We watched videos together and discussed the developments on a daily basis.
Over the last few days we talked about the likely next steps in our country, explaining that the sooner we take them the better. I said that if our government took them “too early” it would actually be “on time” and I would applaud that.
Last night was the culmination of all these discussions. Our household celebrated our country entering a national state of emergency like we had won the World Cup.
My kids’ moods lifted noticeably because they understood that our leaders were making brave and correct decisions.
We watched some simulation videos before bed that illustrate the massive positive impact these social distancing measures will have. I highly recommend you check out these simulations.