Page 23 - Resurrection Magazine

To Die Starving or To Die of Disease:

The Dilemma of being poor amidst COVID

n Nguyen Ngoc Trinh
n sunny April, the days were overcast by fears of a global pandemic and in the night, people tramped
Iwearily down roads with their children and belongings with no idea where they were going. Those in their
houses surely wondered: who were these? The short answer is, they are not performers nor protestors, just
silent victims. Not of disease but of poverty, forced out of living and home due to the shut-down of services
and the lack of housing and essential materials.
I have never ever imagined in my life, that I would witness the helplessness of millions of displaced
migrant workers coursing out of major Indian cities — hundreds trudging right past my front door. Most
were young men, released from construction jobs and evicted by nervous landlords. They planned to live
on the kindness of strangers, which is not necessarily a losing bet in India, and to keep walking home to
villages hundreds of miles away. I questioned myself how many would make it, walking side by side, unable
to practice social distancing. “It doesn’t matter,” one young man told me. “The government says that this is
a serious disease, so what else can we do but go home?” They talked in tears: “I know there is the threat of
coronavirus, but we are helpless. How would we survive without any income for more than a week?”
The longer lockdown is, the longer migrant laborers are hit hard financially as there is no work and
income. Sincee buses and other modes of transport are not available, they have decided to walk to reach
home. As a result, they have to choose between walking (a chance at life) and starving (certain death).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the entire country would be going under lockdown.
He said that the lockdown is very important for India to fight against novel coronavirus and control its
spread. The World Health Organization and health experts have said social distancing, self-quarantines
and lockdowns can help in containing the virus. However, 22% of India’s population lives in urban slums,
characterized by acute poverty, over-crowding, unhealthy living conditions, and a weak urban-public health
setup. When I searched on Google or read newspapers about slums in cities, a space with only 10 – 20m
2
for very big family with many members, I wondered whether social distancing would even be possible. And
in case of infection in those areas, could quarantine or treatment be performed effectively? And another
hurtful fact is, people living in slums are more prone to the disease because of multiple reasons. They are
nutritionally deficient and have a weaker immune system.

In the end, the picture of lockdown in India is so painful and miserable for the poor: Food, money and
work are scarce among slum-dwellers and migrant laborers. And day by day, they are ought choose between
dying of starvation and dying of disease.

RESURRECTION 23