Lessons from history with Dr. Dean Allen

Our event yesterday forced us to look at a very painful part of history – the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The event was live streamed on Zoom, allowing us to see many of our beloved friends and supporters after many months of feeling isolated from one another.

Public speaker Andre du Toit led the event and introduced Masicorp Managing Director Milli Firth, who spoke about our efforts in supporting the Masi community during the COVID-19 lockdown. Milli also spoke about the hygiene packs and pre-school feeding and care packs that have been distributed to families, making sure that our learners are fed during this difficult time. Milli also mentioned the educational resources that we have been distributing to learners from our various programmes.

“If we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it”. This was the main takeaway message from historian Dr Dean Allen. Dr. Allen looked at the similarities and differences between the Spanish flu and COVID-19, noting that they were both novel viruses that humans do not have immunity to yet. He touched on how different governments handled communication, regulations and safety protocols in the past and how this could help our current governments handle our current pandemic better. The biggest and most advantageous difference being that we now have the science and technology to better handle the COVID-19 virus and that we can communicate in the safety of our homes due to the internet.

Dr. Allen ended off on a positive note while looking at how economies could recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. He commended individuals and organisations like Masicorp for how they have come together as one to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He asked that we remember to support those from disadvantaged communities like Masiphumelele.

If you would like to see our education programmes continue in the Masiphumelele community after COVID-19, please support us by giving back here https://www.masicorp.org/donate/ or snapscan our QR code below.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this event. COVID-19 is not going away any time soon and we need the tools to be able to move forward despite this difficult situation that we find ourselves in. A special thanks to Dr. Dean Allen, for giving back to the community we serve and for empowering everyone who attended the event with lessons from history.