AFRICAN NARRATIVES OF ‘EVERYDAY HOPE’ IN THE EARLY STAGES OF COVID-19

In April 2020, I received a saddening message from my

home

country

that a fellow

Zimbabwean

friend

was critically ill in South

Africa

― suffering from what was suspected to be

Covid-19

. He, unfortunately, succumbed and died after a few days. In the following weeks, another

friend

broke similar disturbing news of his wife contracting the

virus

. She was

part

of over 70 medical staff and frontline workers infected in a problematic hospital cluster in my hometown of Bulawayo. My

friend

requested prayers and support during what he called “the

times

when our faith is being tested”― I gladly consented and assisted where I could. Fortunately, she defeated the

virus

after 14 days with mostly mild symptoms. As months passed, I began to frequently receive more and more news of either

relatives

,

friends

or other

people

I know being affected directly or indirectly by the

virus

. Most of the conversations I held with my

student

interlocutors in

Hong

Kong

at the beginning of the

pandemic

tended to produce

narratives

of the

experiences

and expectations of their

families

,

friends

,

relatives

, and communities back in

Africa

. As the

pandemic

intensified, and as several

governments

worked round the clock to limit its effects, the affairs of sending

countries

unsettled

Africans

scattered across the globe. Many

students

wondered if their

governments

, economies and

societies

possessed what it takes to manage the

epidemic

and respond swiftly. Equally so,

African

governments

and

societies

showed concern about the welfare of their migrant populations stuck in several

Covid-19

hot spots worldwide. It is

this

variegated transnational ‘social morphological’ picture that motivates me to

use

voices from abroad to document how

African

students

in

Hong

Kong

and their

societies

in

Africa

experienced the early stages of what some of my

informants

thought was an “apocalyptic”

pandemic

(

cf

. Vertovec, 2009). My

analysis

is confined primarily within the discipline of

anthropology

, but I

also

borrow from other disciplines.

Anthropology

previously shunned investigations on

hope

based on the argument that cultural matters are public rather than private and anthropologists cannot read the minds of their

research

participants

(

cf

. Geertz, 1973; Radcliffe-Brown, 1958; Malinowski, 1934). Of

course

,

this

view evolved significantly with the changes to static definitions of culture (

Ortner

, 2016;

Crapanzano

, 2003;

Kleist

and

Jansen

, 2016). In July 2020, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) selected

hope

as a theme for its special issue for the journal Open

Anthropology

emphasising its

importance

given

Covid-19

, consequent

protests

, and general uncertainty the

world

over . In the words of the editors, “collectively we are living in

times

that feel rather desperate― and yet, […] here we are, ‘tattered and feathered’” (Han and Antrosio, 2020).

Kleist

and

Jansen

(2016: 374) earlier ask: “Is the renewed interest in

hope

a reflection of a

world

that is

more hopeful or more hopeless than it used to be?” They respond that there is “a widespread

sense

of

crisis

and a heightened

sense

of

lack

of political and ideological direction in

this

situation

”. Whenever there is a

crisis

as

such

war, unemployment, food insecurity, or in the present

context

,

Covid-19

,

people

begin to walk, eat, think and speak

hope

and

hopelessness

.

People’s

lives

become underlined by discussions and

narratives

of why

things

are the way they are, how they can exercise their agencies (or how other outside agents can act on their behalf) to bring about better

futures

(ibid). They talk about their failures, doubts,

worries

, frustrations, and ambitions for the present and

future

(

Brim

, 2018;

Crapanzano

, 2003). The forgoing pretty much summarises the interests of

this

paper

and how I

use

hope

in the

analysis

. Importantly, while

Africa

’s

situation

was relatively better during the period focused on by

this

paper

, devastations in other

places

in the

world

were driving the continent to worry,

fear

, anticipate and project how its

state

of affairs would pan out when the

virus

eventually infiltrated fully. Equally so, remedies like lockdowns and testing were being rolled-out in

Africa

and these became the centre of daily interaction. I,

therefore

, describe here,

narratives

of

hope

and

hopelessness

in the

African

context

at the onset of

Covid-19

from the lens of

African

students

in

Hong

Kong

. My

analysis

delves into the structural and macro-levels here and there but hinges considerably on the micro-level views and

experiences

shared between

African

students

and their

families

,

relatives

and

friends

back

home

. I look, specifically, into areas

people

discussed daily

such

as the quality of their

lives

;

vaccine

and

cure

;

Covid-19

statistics

;

pandemic

truths and

falsehoods

; social distancing; viral testing; global

protests

; economic, political, and

health

systems

;

pandemic

response by the

people

and

governments

;

death

; and the

future

among

others

.

Next

, I theorize

hope

and

hopelessness

. 1.2HOPE AND

HOPELESSNESS

: LESSONS FROM

CRAPANZANO

AND

ORTNER

Vincent

Crapanzano

offers a comprehensive and multi-disciplined panorama of

hope

married to

desire

(

Crapanzano

, 2003). Quoting novelist Walter Pater, he presents

hope

as the: “imaginative stimulus (presumably from the real

world

)”, “some not impossible ideal,” “vague

hope

,” “effective

desire

” [and

hope

] carrying us through the “routine work” of

life

− curiosity− “without disgust,” and its potential transformation into

desire

[

Crapanzano

adds] dreams, waking dreams [

cf

. Aristotle], daydreams; illusion; anticipation; expectation, and possibility; the

future

; patience and waiting;

doubt

,

fear

, and joy; revolution, utopia, and apocalypse; and [theological concepts of] salvation, redemption, and of

course

, expiation[…]; [and

lastly

] realism and resignation (

Crapanzano

, 2003: 6). As a non-psychologist, I

hope

to desist from a psychological

analysis

and distance from concepts like dreams as outlined by

Crapanzano

. My definition,

however

, speaks to

desire

, wish, intention, speculation, expectation, anticipation, ambition,

opportunities

, capabilities,

success

,

failure

, the

future

,

doubt

,

fear

and other elements enlisted in

Crapanzano

’s conceptualisation. For

Crapanzano

, what makes

hope

untrustworthy is its passivity, leading to the resignation of hoping persons and the dependency, in an infantilising manner, upon “some other agency― a

god

, fate, chance, and other― for its fulfilment” (

Crapanzano

, 2003: 6). Of

course

,

this

is not entirely true, given

hope

has been studied to be active in other contexts. Scholars

study

hope

in the

presence

of ‘incurability of ailments’ and ‘predestination’ which potentially

cause

passivity and

hopelessness

(Mattingly, 2010; Elliot, 2016). Mattingly (2010) was studying the caregivers of cancer

patients

who spoke

hope

to the

patients

for them to better deal with their ailments;

this

became a

source

of strength to carry on with care duties. Elliot (2016) was investigating how girls believing in predestination acted to position themselves to what they hoped were their predestined marital

futures

in a Moroccan immigrant town. They woe all sorts of makeup and invested heavily in beauty to attract their desired and hopefully predestined male suitors. I am inclined towards

this

hope

that combines individual and outside agency.

Crapanzano

says

desire

, over

hope

, is more agentive and bound to manifestation than

hope

.

Desire

ushers in

hope

: “I

desire

her. I

hope

she will

desire

me. I do what I can to bring about her desires, but

finally

, there is a limit to what I can do. I can only

hope

[because]

desire

presumes a psychology,

hope

presupposes a metaphysics” (

Crapanzano

, 2003:6). I prefer not to separate between the

two

and to think with them interchangeably. When considering factors

such

as

failure

,

fear

, anger,

doubt

and

others

that depict

hopelessness

, Sherry

Ortner

’s ‘dark

anthropology

’ comes alive: “[an]

anthropology

that emphasizes the harsh and brutal dimensions of human [thought and] experience, and the structural and historical

conditions

that produce them”(

Ortner

, 2016:49).

Ortner

, heavily influenced by Foucault and Marxism, explains

this

by way of neoliberalism and colonialism which changed

people

and their perceptions of

life

. Central in her

analysis

is the misuse of power or exploitation and inequality that sees the poor and powerless being relentlessly marginalized and dehumanized by socioeconomic actors and

systems

. Ferguson (1999:236),

for

instance

, says Zambia was “unplugged” from the

world

and its citizens left in a hopeless condition of “abjection”, “thrown out [and] thrown down” by these debilitating

systems

.

Ortner

(2016:55) sums it up by saying “[…] in the worst cases, which is to say among the poor, there [was an] increasing poverty, deterioration of

life

conditions

, and increasing

hopelessness

and depression. But even in the middle classes, there [was] a

sense

of declining fortunes (Newman 1993), loss of optimism, and great insecurity about the present and the

future

.” While the forgoing sums up the

hopelessness

also

addressed by

this

paper

, I do not directly and entirely address the geopolitical

/

structural infrastructure of

Covid-19

but I consider its effects; how the

pandemic

reaches the microcosm and

cause

hapless perceptions and

narratives

. The

paper

discusses the

state

, wealth, globalization, transnationalism and other

issues

associated with power, exploitation and inequality, but only in so far as they explicate

people’s

perceived

fears

and miseries during the

pandemic

.

Furthermore

,

this

dark picture is not the only interest of

this

piece.

Ortner

(2016: 58-65) advocates for a shift from dark (

hopelessness

) to good (hopeful)

anthropology

where despite (probable)

conditions

of suffering,

people

can find ways of adapting, resisting, and

in addition

, progressing in their

lives

. I,

therefore

, document

Africans

pursuing

life

, happiness and

health

against

Covid-19

odds and demonstrate how

hope

and

hopelessness

are intertwined (theoretically and) in practice.

Finally

, while

Crapanzano

and

Ortner

dominate

this

section, the overall

analysis

draws from a wide variety of theoretical premises

such

as

Mathews

’ (1996) ideas on what makes

life

worth living, Hage’s (2003) social

hope

, Appadurai’s (2013) notion of the ‘capacity to aspire’,

Brim

’s (2018) theorization of ambition,

success

and

failure

,

Stasik

, Hänsch & Mains’s (2020) concept of waithood or waiting, Berlant’s (2011) rendition on ‘objects of

desire

’, and even Mc Leod’s idea of levelled aspirations among

others

. These

also

reflect

people’s

notions of

hope

and

hopelessness

. The

next

section looks at the materials and methods used. 1.3MATERIALS AND METHODS I have been conducting an ethnography of

Africans

in

China

(

Hong

Kong

and Guangzhou) since August 2019 as

part

of my PhD

studies

. Ethnography, in its qualitative and longitudinal nature, allows for a more sumptuous detailing and thicker description of

issues

(

cf

.

Mathews

, 2012).

Such

an approach is helpful given 1) I am writing about a subjective and fluid phenomenon like

hope

, and 2) I investigate

experiences

in

Africa

through the lens of a relatively small

student

population abroad. As an

African

student

myself, I managed to develop close relationships with some current and former

students

in various Universities. I live in the same neighbourhood as some and go to the same church and school with

others

. I have

also

come to know some of their

families

(some featured in

this

paper

) closely. Some hold vital positions in

Student

Associations

, while

others

lead in other realms. I formally and informally talked to them repeatedly on multiple

issues

and kept a notebook,

interview

transcripts, videos and pictures. Some completed their

studies

and secured

jobs

or post-doctoral positions in

Hong

Kong

and abroad. I

also

serendipitously interviewed new

students

from

Africa

holding fresh memories

/

experiences

and

students

that have returned to

Africa

after completing their

studies

.

Further

still, I spent much

time

on the

media

assessing the trends of

Covid-19

. I belong to social

media

platforms featuring

African

students

abroad as well as

Africans

back in

Africa

. For

this

paper

, I purposively selected a dozen

interviews

with the

students

, coupled with informal conversations and

data

from my (physical and online) observations. In these

interviews

, the

students

deliberated the

situation

abroad and in

Africa

comparatively and simultaneously. A dialogue,

for

instance

, about how

Hong

Kong

, Taiwan, Macau and mainland

China

were handling the

pandemic

would immediately lead to conversations about how different

African

countries

would or were already managing the

epidemic

. Discussions about their

experiences

abroad led to a reflection on the

experiences

of their

families

,

relatives

,

friends

, communities, and

countries

.

Informants

averred that they and their

societies

had mutual

worries

,

hope

and daily exchange of

information

/

resources related to the

virus

. It is

this

data

that I present in

this

paper

. I manually handled most of the

data

. I

first

transcribed much of the recorded

interviews

,

then

coded, categorised, sorted, and memoed the

data

. Since the ethnography is ongoing, I made gap fillers (especially on

Covid-19

) each

time

I held new

interviews

or made

further

observations.

Hope

and transnationalism are not just deliberate topics for my

paper

, but significant emerging categories from the ongoing inductive analytical process of

data

gathered so far. The software NVIVO assisted me in my

analysis

.

Next

, I describe and discuss the

results

, and end with a summary and conclusions. 1.4RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

NARRATIVES

OF

HOPE

AND

HOPELESSNESS

1.4.1African

Students

in

Hong

Kong

The literature on

Africans

in

China

is significant, but a few scholars write about

students

(

Mathews

, 2015; Bodomo, 2014, 2020; Hodzi, 2020). Recently, Bodomo reiterated his 2012 estimations that there are between 30000 and 40000

African

students

in Greater

China

(including Mainland

China

,

Hong

Kong

, Macau and Taiwan) (Bodomo, 2020; 2012). In

Hong

Kong

, there are about 3000 to 4000 officially recorded

Africans

(

cf

. Amoah et al., 2020; Hodzi, 2020). The

presence

of

African

students

in Greater

China

dates as far back as 1950 (Hevi, 1964) whereas

Hong

Kong

only recently began attracting

African

PhD

students

after introducing the University Grants Committee (UGC) and the

Research

Grants Council (RGC) scholarships in 2009. A

majority

of the

students

I feature in

this

article come from

Ghana

and

Nigeria

. These

two

countries

also

have active

associations

that hold approximately 40

members

every year. There are

also

other

African

students

’

associations

from the various Universities in

Hong

Kong

that contain on average between 5 and 20

members

. It would be too ambitious to make estimations on how many

African

students

are in

Hong

Kong

. They are a temporal and mobile group. While some graduate,

others

start their

studies

. Some programs are shorter than

others

. Their pace of completion of

studies

also

differs. Some suspend their

studies

at some point.

Others

complete their degrees early.

Others

still, prolong the completion of their

studies

. Some have gone out of

Hong

Kong

and or

China

for their

research

or other assignments.

Likewise

, some remain

part

of their

associations

beyond their full-

time

study

period. A

majority

of the

students

I interviewed were married. Many of them left their

families

back in

Africa

. Only a few brought their

families

along. Those with

families

stay outside of the universities’ hostels, in neighbourhoods

such

as Hung Hom, Tsim-Sha- Tsui, Sham Shui Po, Yuen Long, and Taipo.

Furthermore

, the

majority

of the

students

I interviewed are males. Most

students

came from middle-class backgrounds and were employed in academia or industry before coming to

Hong

Kong

. Some resigned from their

jobs

while

others

applied for leave of absence.

Others

still, sought

study

leave from their employers. The

Covid-19

situation

in

Africa

worried them immensely more than that in Asia. Table 1 below shows the profiles of 12

participants

featured in

this

paper

. I disguise their identities to protect their image: Table 1:

Participants

’ Profiles PSEUDO NAME GENDER

/

AGE

COUNTRY

OF ORIGIN FIELD OF

STUDY

YEAR OF

INTERVIEW

1. Mark 2. Grace 3. Ugo 4.

Mel

5.

Esther

6. Jocelyne 7. Peter 8.

John

9. Elber 10. Joe 11.

Oba

12. Purpose Male 35 Female 33 Male 39 Female 28 Female 34 Female 33 Male 43 Male 28 Male 29 Male 30 Male 38 Female 31

Ghana

Nigeria

Tanzania

Nigeria

Ghana

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Nigeria

Ghana

Ethiopia

Nigeria

Uganda Land Surveying and Geoinformatics Economics Nursing Nursing Microbiology Sociology

Health

Sciences Computer Science Building Engineering Environmental Engineering

Student

Dependent

Student

Dependent 2020 2019 and 2020 2020 2020 2020 2019 and 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 Table by the Author (2020) 1.4.2

Efforts

towards

vaccine

and

cure

Like any other person living in early

Covid-19

, the primary

hope

of

African

Students

in

Hong

Kong

was that a

vaccine

could be discovered and produced soon. In many encounters, we deliberated

vaccine

production

efforts

by different

countries

such

as Russia, the United Kingdom,

China

, the United States of America and Australia, among

others

. The

students

appreciated

such

efforts

, despite the “competition and politicisation that leaves

people

wondering which narrative to follow. Anyway, better a glimmer of

hope

than nothing at the present moment” (

Interview

with Peter, 2020). Our discussions

also

centred on the

African

context

. The Madagascan president,

for

instance

, came out on

media

saying his

country

had developed a herbal concoction that would work to prevent and

cure

the

virus

. My

research

participants

slated the idea of “

cure

”, arguing that the concoction was scientifically unproven.

Mel

said: “viruses, including the common flue, generally have no

cure

. We just administer medication to manage the symptoms, and it takes

time

to develop a

vaccine

anyway” (

Interview

with

Mel

, 2020). Figure 1 below shows an image of the Madagascan

Covid-19

herbal remedy: Figure 1: Madagascan

Covid-19

Herbal Tonic Image adapted from

Africa

news (2020)

Study

participants

stressed the

importance

of traditional

medicines

to boost the immune

system

and complement rather than replace scientific medication.

Esther

,

for

instance

, argued: “herbal

medicines

have always been

part

of my

life

. We have used herbs to treat flue, diarrhoea, menstrual pains and headaches. I make sure to have ginger, garlic, lemons and

such

in my kitchen. It comes in handy in

times

of Covid- 19. Not to treat but to improve the immune

system

” (

Interview

with

Esther

, 2020). I learnt through the

interviews

that apple cider vinegar, guava leaves, cayenne pepper, Vicks (an American product), salt gargles, and high temperature steaming among

others

were believed in

Africa

to assist in dealing with (i.e. preventing, immune

system

boosting, and ideally curing) the

virus

. A

majority

reiterated that conventional

health

systems

in

Africa

are ill-equipped to deal with the

virus

. Traditional

medicines

are

thus

received as a ‘Do It Yourself (DIY)’ capacitating the

people

to fight off the

virus

within their bodies or at least to cushion them as they wait for ‘proper’ medical assistance. Below is

one

such

recipe I came across from my social

media

networks in

Zimbabwe

: “Stay

home

and do steam bath therapy for treatment and prevention of

Coronavirus

. For treatment, do a steam bath for 15 minutes, three

times

a day until full recovery. For prevention, do steam bath therapy for 15 minutes thrice per week only, you and your whole family. Please prepare and take the following

juice

if you suspect a

Covid-19

infection, and take a glass three

times

a day before meals (morning, afternoon and evening): 1 tablespoon of black pepper,

two

tablespoons of honey,

one

grated or blended fresh ginger root to a glass of dilute and drinkable lemon

juice

. (Buy concentered lemon

juice

or squeeze lemons to make

juice

and dilute the lemon

juice

to make it drinkable. Buy honey, fresh ginger roots, black pepper from Alaska supermarket, Robert Mugabe Street and 11th Avenue, if you are in Bulawayo. Dress warmly and bask in the sun during the day, and always have hot water for bathing where you can immerse your whole body in hot water inside a bathtub. All your meals, drinks and teas should be taken hot” (

Source

, WhatsApp Group in

Zimbabwe

).

Nevertheless

, the foregoing findings concur with

Stasik

, Hänsch & Mains’s (2020: 2) assertion that “a temporality of waiting […] combines hopes for a distant

future

with activity and growth in the present” or as Bloch (1986) earlier reiterated, the capacity to reorient action through the potentiality of the not-yet. They

also

immediately justify

Ortner

’s (2016) assertion on adaptations

people

make in the face of dark realities. 1.4.3 Testing and testing

equipment

? The

students

also

talked about the mixed reactions from their

African

societies

towards the testing

equipment

coming from abroad.

Students

alleged that some

people

in

Africa

believed testing materials and

masks

from other continents to be causing the escalation of the

virus

in the continent.

Such

preferred not to test since “sometimes

people

suddenly depreciate [or die] after being confirmed positive of

Covid-19

” (

Interview

with Purpose, 2020). It appeared that before diagnosis,

people

received and even misconstrued the

virus

as a standard flue (generally not scary in the

African

context

). Once they tested positive,

however

, they began to

sense

danger to their

lives

. The lacklustre response to testing made

sense

given the propaganda on

Covid-19

comparative to other diseases at the

time

but it

also

displays how

people

plan, talk, and scheme in the midst of uncertainties or potential

hopelessness

(

cf

.

Stasik

et al., 2020). A

majority

of the

African

countries

had relatively lower active

Covid-19

cases and deaths at the

time

. My

informants

gave different reasons for

this

.

First

, they stated the limited testing capacities and political will from the

people

. Tanzanian president

also

peddled a sceptic gospel. He rubbished

Covid-19

testing

equipment

based on a private medical

study

he sanctioned which found the

virus

on Papaws and a goat .

Africans

’

lack

of political will at that stage worried the

students

who wished for their

societies

to accept the reality of the

virus

and voluntarily test to avoid putting other

people

at risk.

Second

, they attributed present low figures to the difficulty in collating

country

/

continent-wide

statistics

on deaths given the lockdowns and absence of

people

from work―some casualties, especially in rural areas, could not be recorded in official

statistics

. The

students

,

however

, highlighted that there was a potential for their

countries

to report high

pandemic

related figures to attract foreign funding. The

students

speculated that the elites in their

countries

would heavily abuse

such

funding by siphoning it into their private pockets (

cf

.

Ortner

, 2016, dark

anthropology

).

Corruption

is usually rampant during crises in

African

countries

.

Third

,

students

proffered that

Africans

have robust immune

systems

that prevent viruses from ravaging. Some even suggested that

lives

must continue as usual since

people’s

immune defences are triggered over

time

.

Covid-19

reports and reality later proved

this

to be untrue, but the rendition showcases their

hope

-filled self-judgement and resistance-capability-imaginations in light of the threatening

pandemic

(

cf

.

Ortner

, 2016). At the

time

,

Africa

’s low

Covid-19

patient

/

death

figures were somewhat a

success

story in the

world

, but

this

was

also

because not many

people

were mobile to the continent from red spots. Fourth, they demonstrated the idea of

hope

as derived from

God

or Allah― “

God

’s mercy upon

Africa

is vivid”, a type of

hope

tied to faith and outside agents (

Kleist

and

Jansen

, 2016). They said

Africans

are religious

people

trusting in a “divine being” able to intervene in their plight unlike the “European and American Atheists, and Asian Buddhists” ― as if the latter hold on to nothing (spiritual) in their

lives

. 1.4.4 Controversies of social distancing My

participants

also

spoke about social distancing from the lens of

hope

and

hopelessness

. There were divided perceptions. Some

students

favoured

lockdown

while

others

disfavoured it: “As

Africans

, especially in

Nigeria

, survive much on the daily economic hustle. How do

people

make a living when restricted to their closed compounds? We live on selling and buying on the streets. Business falters when you introduce lockdowns. Anyway, individuality is anti-

African

. We love to work, worship and party together” (

Interview

with Grace, 2020). “Our

governments

are just copying and pasting everything done in other

countries

without considering the

conditions

existing on the ground in

Africa

. We

don’t

even have social welfare and business support schemes as effective as those we see abroad.

People

will die of hunger, and businesses will crumble down forever” (

Interview

with,

Oba

, 2020). “You see, Tanzania is not like

Hong

Kong

. I’m happy that our president has let

things

be, just advising the putting on of

masks

in public

places

and frequent sanitisation. That’s about all we can do except if we want

Africa

to be extinct. Not to

Lockdown

. Even if you lock down,

African

streets are crowded, our

places

of residence are crowded too.

It’s

not practical. How do you implement

lockdown

in Khayelitsha and Kibera [slums in Cape Town, South

Africa

, and Nairobi, Kenya]?” (

Interview

with, Ugo, 2020). “I’m against the human rights abuses emerging during the

lockdown

from the police and military. But beyond that, I feel that it makes no

sense

to open

countries

so that more and more

people

die.

This

is a war. During the war,

people

stay indoors. They do not complain about food and water. They hide as much as they can. They stock up the few

things

they need and stay in hiding. Only a few

people

go out” (

Interview

with Purpose, 2020). I am happy with a

lockdown

in

African

countries

. Social distancing is critical if we are to find our

relatives

alive when we return to

Africa

. The

results

from

China

speak for themselves. Our

health

systems

[in

Africa

] are incapable of handling high numbers of

patients

. For me, despite economic challenges, better safe than sorry. Unlike the economy,

health

is irreplaceable. Well,

it’s

a pity that many

people

back

home

fear

bread and butter shortages more than they

fear

for their

lives

(

Interview

with Peter, 2020). Based on the preceding, it seems that social distancing was seen as a

source

of

both

hope

and

hopelessness

. The contrast in opinions centred on factors

such

as economic viability, human rights, strategic and practical applicability, and social implications, among

others

. In their interpretations, NGOs are more dependable

health

providers than their “corrupt, timid and unprofessional

governments

” (

Interview

with

John

, 2020). Many estimated that the

virus

in

Africa

would prolong for about 7 to 10 more years after the innovation of a

vaccine

(given the

vaccine

is effective in abating the

virus

), with richer

countries

prioritising their

societies

over

Africa

. But they

also

pointed out that

life

would have to ingeniously continue for

Africans

as it did “during the influenza

virus

, HIV and AIDS, and Ebola” (

Interview

with Joe). Overall,

this

data

, tying

Covid-19

with social, economic and political forces, points to the interrelations between structure and

hope

/

less in

/

agencies. Gassan Hage says social

hope

is

both

manufactured in society and intended to bring “meaningful and dignified social

life

” (Hage, 2003: 15). When societal

life

becomes (potentially) futile due to

Covid-19

and its restrictions,

hopelessness

kicks in. 1.4.5

Protests

in America and other parts of the

world

We

also

discussed

protests

mushrooming during

Covid-19

in the United States of America and other parts of the

world

, and the traces of

such

activism in

Africa

.

Students

spoke about how

Africans

bought into the worldwide

protests

, riding on their momentum to

also

demand justice and equitability on their domestic scenes. In

Zimbabwe

, the

Coronavirus

gave birth to the

Zimbabwean

Lives

Matter movement against alleged

state

/

military repression and killings, denial of freedom of speech and protest, and high levels of poverty. In South

Africa

, the

protests

led to dissenting

efforts

against alleged police repression, white racism, the opening of schools, the prohibition of beer, and other

issues

. My

informants

rendered that

this

could be the beginning of

hope

, vocalism and civic action by

Africans

against centuries-long injustice from various structural elements. Some mentioned how the increased social

media

presence

of

people

during the

pandemic

necessitated civic engagement. Many

people

(my

research

participants

included) have taken to WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and

others

to openly speak about injustices and express their frustrations at the

situations

in their

countries

. Of

course

, it remains to be seen if these

efforts

will bring about any fruitful outcomes, but they do register the objects of

desire

and particles of

hope

Africans

wished

Covid-19

would bring for their

societies

(

cf

. Berlant, 2011).

Students

’ opinions

also

reveal how

Africans

’ “engagement with [

pandemic

related

protests

was] shaped by [their socio-economic and political] visions of the

future

” (

Stasik

, Hänsch & Mains, 2020: 2). Just as well, the

protests

demonstrate the shrinking of space and

time

, and the magnitude of transnationalism as a site for political engagement (Vertovec, 1999). Most directly, protesting is a good example of

Ortner

’s (2016) good

anthropology

that focuses on resistance-related

hope

narratives

of the

people

. 1.4.6 Ingenuity, resilience and responsibility Apart from

hope

emanating from public civic engagement, some respondents cited glimpses of

hope

for ingenuity, resilience and responsibility. They argued that the

virus

will teach

Africans

to stop waiting for outsiders’ help whenever there is a

crisis

: “The new normal has taught

African

people

to be ingenious, creative and innovative, and the

governments

responsive to local needs.

People

have learnt how to make beer and cook pizza at

home

, worship individually or online, don self-made

masks

, save on food and other basic commodities, make vegetable gardens in their backyards, exercise regularly, and sell products in their homesteads.

It’s

interesting to see street vegetable and perfume vendors advertising their products and locations on Facebook and WhatsApp statuses. I saw

people

close to me diversify their businesses, like

one

friend

, a renowned

cellphone

dealer. I saw him advertising broiler chickens for sale after constructing a fowl run when his

cellphone

business was no longer functioning well [he could not order new

cellphone

stock online or make the journey to

China

]. The

pandemic

has forced

governments

to stop ignoring their mandate: to buy personal protective gear for

health

workers, to renovate hospitals, increase the supply of

medicines

, to attend to the welfare of doctors, to monitor borders closely, to worry about the cleanliness of cities and many

such

other

things

. The

time

for foreign medical trips by top government officials and resource wastage on

such

trips is over. Corona doesn’t care.

This

pandemic

is good for the

future

of

Africa

” (

Interview

with Elber, 2020).

Africans

are generally resilient and prayerful. We have survived the wars, famines, disasters, HIV and AIDS, human rights abuses, etcetera. We learn how to adapt, adjust and resist in

times

of trouble, and we emerge better all the

time

.

Covid-19

will undoubtedly add as a critical skill in the

future

CVs of

Africans

. Ours is to pray and leave everything to Christ (

Interview

with

Esther

, 2020). It is the responsibility of

people

at a lower level and

governments

at a higher level that will be the positive effects of

this

virus

.

People

will learn that a job has no security; they need to enterprise on the side. They will learn to save whatever they have for the

future

. The

governments

will understand the meaning of investing their

efforts

and resources in

Africa

, be it in

health

, education, industry, whatever. They will start calling each other out for

corruption

because they would have felt the pain of suffering and losing

relatives

like other citizens.

Covid-19

is here to sanitise (

Interview

with

Mel

, 2020). What the foregoing

results

depict is that

situations

of

hopelessness

“increase awareness of, and sensitivity to living with risks” (

Kleist

and

Jansen

, 2016:375) and bring

people

to self-examine so as to turn their

situations

towards hopeful pedestals (

Brim

, 2018).

Hopelessness

,

therefore

, is not an end or ultimate defeat, but the very beginning of imagination and actions that thrive towards a better tomorrow. Imagination with action here signify manifesting

desire

(

Crapanzano

, 2003) and practice-oriented agency (

Ortner

, 1984). 1.4.7

Students

’

health

―

Africa

’s

hope

The

African

students

also

hoped not to contract the

virus

for the sake of themselves and their

families

in

Africa

. I heard, at the

time

of

this

writing, of a few

African

students

in Mainland

China

that allegedly fell sick of the

virus

, but not in

Hong

Kong

. Here are some of the failures attached to contracting the

virus

for most

students

. For starters, their

studies

risked being curtailed and in case of

health

complications terminated. In the

event

of prolonged illness,

students

feared that their funding would run out and

consequently

struggle to finance the completion of their

studies

. They

also

mentioned emotional strain on their

families

in

Africa

. A

majority

expressed concern about the expenditure involved in repatriating corpses not to mention their dislike for being buried or cremated in a foreign

country

in case of

death

. Cremation is unusual in the

African

context

, and

death

is a communal

event

valued in

societies

. Some

societies

even hold

death

rituals that require the physical

presence

of a corpse. Jocelyne told me about how her

relatives

and

friends

were suffering in South

Africa

and how she did not wish to die in

Hong

Kong

: “As you know, South

African

mortuaries are filled up with

Zimbabwean

corpses. I hear that even in hospitals, they are just left to die, with preference given to South

Africans

. When they die, some of their corpses remain stranded in South

Africa

. Sometimes

it’s

because they have no

relatives

in South

Africa

, and their

friends

have abandoned them since

it’s

expensive to repatriate a corpse. Meanwhile, the

relatives

in

Zimbabwe

are on

lockdown

, largely prevented from travelling abroad. The clearance process at the department of

home

affairs is cumbersome since most Zimbabweans are residing illegally in South

Africa

. I know of a few bodies of

Zimbabwean

relatives

that have had to be smuggled across the border for them to get dignified funerals. But

also

,

this

porosity in the border has led to the increase of the

virus

cases at

home

. I can tell you that so many

people

are sick, especially in urban areas and

it’s

because of these

Zimbabwean

migrants in South

Africa

who bring the

virus

. If you pay omalayitsha [informal cross-border commuter operators] or bribe the immigration officials, you can easily cross into

Zimbabwe

without having to test for the

virus

or quarantine. Back in South

Africa

, most have lost their

jobs

, and their

situations

are near destitution;

this

is why many are flocking back to

Zimbabwe

. Now, to think about myself, miles away from

home

. I can’t even imagine falling sick or being repatriated as a corpse. Imagine the expenditure. I

don’t

even have

such

an amount […] Even if I fall sick, I wouldn’t want to be the

cause

of the spread of the

virus

amongst my family

members

. I pray never to die or be buried here” (

Interview

with Jocelyne, 2020). Some

students

mentioned how they were breadwinners and how their falling sick would potentially bring a cloud of

hopelessness

to their immediate and extended

families

’ livelihoods.

Such

hoped to continue supporting their

families

materially and

otherwise

, especially

Covid-19

patients

: “Imagine me being sick here; I have left three children back

home

. My mother depends on me too. Imagine if

one

of these would fall sick at the same

time

as myself. When

one

is sick, they are practically incapacitated. You are so sick you cannot concentrate. You can’t even send

money

to assist those back at

home

. Remember that story of a man who was on

Covid-19

comma for

two

weeks, and when he woke up, he found many of his immediate family

members

dead. I can’t even imagine how I would respond in the same

situation

. But to answer your question, yes, my family

worries

a lot about me and wish that I remain healthy as I am a pillar of strength for them. I have become a counsellor for them during these difficult

times

. Seeing me alive in

China

where the

virus

was once ravaging, many have found solace that the

virus

is not coming to wipe them from the face of the earth. We thank

God

” (

Interview

with Peter, 2020).

Covid-19

,

therefore

, had the potential to

cause

unwanted

failure

and cut-short

students

’ and their

families

’ opportunity for dignity, “mastery and growth” in

life

(

Brim

, 2018:9). Notice, from the

data

, how

success

and

failure

(

cf

.

Brim

, 2018), narrated by

students

from the perspective of scholarships, family livelihoods, and even

death

etc., form an assemblage with

hope

and

hopelessness

(

cf

.

Crapanzano

, 2003) in a transnational landscape (

cf

. Basch, Schiller, and Blanc, 1995). 1.4.8 Truths and

falsehoods

My

informants

also

revealed how they were sources of trusted

information

for their

societies

― they cited that there were a lot of

Covid-19

truths and

falsehoods

flaunted in the

African

social

media

. The

students

told me many questions that they had to answer, verify, educate on, clarify and or discuss with their inner-circles inter-alia: Is the

Coronavirus

a ‘Chinese

virus

’ that does not affect blacks? Are a mixture of vinegar and salt

/

baking soda a

cure

for the

virus

? Is

Covid-19

airborne or not? Is it aerosol or not? What are the best mask practices (wearing,

use

and disposal)? How best can we sanitise? Can we wash and reuse old

masks

? Are natural and indigenous traditional methods more effective than western

medicines

for curing the

virus

? What are the real

statistics

of infection and

death

the

world

over (or

in particular

African

countries

)? Is Jamaica

coronavirus

free and can marijuana

cure

the

virus

? Does rain destroy the

virus

? Will the

virus

die out in hot weather or during the summer? Is Bill Gates funding the manufacturing of a

vaccine

aimed at killing (only)

Africans

? Is it automatic that

one

will heal after 14 days of self-isolation? Do we need to retest

then

? What are the best diet and

health

-boosting tips to prevent and

cure

the

virus

? Does frequent alcohol consumption guarantee prevention from

Covid-19

? Is the

virus

only found outside and not indoors? Is it true that at church, there is no risk of contracting the

virus

? Is it true that close family and workmates do not spread the

virus

? Do we have to social distance at funerals, parties and social gatherings? All these questions are indicative of how the discourses of

hope

and

hopelessness

are interwoven not only with

lack

of knowledge, mistruths and misinformation, but

also

the search for answers to questions of existentialism.

This

is a yearning for normalcy amid abnormality that can be summarized through an overarching question: Is there

hope

for us in

this

pandemic

, or to borrow from

Mathews

, is

life

still worth living— will we find happiness? (

Mathews

, 1996, 2012). Against

this

background, I disagree with

Crapanzano

(2003) that

hope

is passive.

Instead

, the very acts of seeking

information

validate the agentive

hope

of

Africans

who pursue to understand and chisel out strategies to manoeuvre the

pandemic

, and to have “power over […] destiny” and give meaning to their

lives

(Fischer, 2014: 2;

Ortner

, 1984, 2016). 1.4.9

Health

Systems

,

life

and

death

Informants

also

expressed their

hope

in the medical

health

system

in

China

compared to their

fears

for the

African

health

systems

. They cited how their

situations

were much better than those in

Africa

. A

majority

either held some form of medical insurance or had access to

health

institutions in their schools for nearly free. They said even the government hospitals in

Hong

Kong

are very affordable for them. These factors made them hopeful that they would get assistance if they contracted the

virus

. Of

course

,

students

, like many other

Africans

in

Hong

Kong

, sometimes face language barriers while consulting with medical practitioners. Some spoke about their

fears

of racism, ⸺ that they may not be treated or prioritised because of their skin colour. Overall, a

majority

of the respondents highlighted only a few or non-instances of maltreatment in the

health

sector. They generally agreed that these problems did not compare to the hazardous

health

systems

in

Africa

and that the Chinese

health

system

remains a

source

of

hope

for them: “Medical

health

workers are almost always on strike in

Africa

right now. And it is justified. Who would want to work without protection? There are no

medicines

. Even if the

medicines

were there, they are largely unaffordable for general citizens. The

health

facilities are in a deplorable

state

. I

don’t

even have to

state

corruption

in the

health

sectors of

Africa

.

It’s

far much better to be sick while abroad than back at

home

. I remember when

people

said to me in February and March [2020], come back

home

, why would you sacrifice your

life

for a

virus

? That’s when the

virus

was still at its peak in

China

and absent In

Africa

. We were all worried. But even

then

, I wouldn’t have gone back to

Africa

. Now, the same

people

admire my being in a functional city. Just look at how

Hong

Kong

managed to control and manage the

virus

; it has been a

world

barometer of good practice. Who wouldn’t want to be in

such

a place?”(

Interview

with

Mel

, 2020). The

African

students

expressed wishes that their

families

may be spared from or at least survive the

then

fast-spreading

virus

. They hoped that if their family

members

got sick, they would receive some form of medical assistance. They hoped to be able to send

money

back to

Africa

to assist during

this

time

(

money

transfer mechanisms like telegram and

world

remit had become erratic). They wished to attend or somehow participate in burials in the

event

of deaths occurring in

Africa

during the

pandemic

since the

world

was on

lockdown

. A few told me stories of their virtual funerary attendance

experiences

owing to their

failure

to travel to

Africa

to participate physically. They mentioned the

importance

of video

/

voice calls in reaching out to their

families

at an uncertain

time

. They iterated how painful it was to be glued to a computer or

cellphone

from a distance to observe the burial of a loved

one

.

Oba

said: “

It’s

like breaking up a relationship over a phone call, there is not so much dignity in that but what we can do? Better than not participating at all I guess” (

Interview

with

Oba

, 2020). The foregoing

results

indicate

students

’

fears

and

worries

over a potentially hopeless

African

situation

but most importantly, how comparisons of

places

, spaces, and

opportunities

lie at the heart of

narratives

of

hope

and

hopelessness

(

cf

. Carling and Schewel, 2018).

People’s

assessments of options determine the levels of their aspirations in the given

situation

, like resorting to mere virtual attendance and sending

money

because

one

cannot attend a funeral physically (

cf

. Mc Leod, 2009). We can

also

see at a global level, how the

virus

brought

health

systems

, travel, and other services to a hopeless standstill.

People’s

senses of

hope

and

hopelessness

come through “pragmatic choice and decision making, and

/

or active calculating and strategizing” (

Ortner

, 1984:150). 1.4.10 A Scary

future

? Many

students

in discussing the

situations

in their

countries

also

reminisced their own desired

futures

. Many hoped that they could continue being funded whilst in

China

and that if

Covid-19

prolonged, they could get

further

opportunities

abroad to prevent their return to

Africa

.

Others

wished for continued

pandemic

stability in

Hong

Kong

, their only

hope

against repatriation back to

Africa

. The

students

said that returning to

Africa

before

time

amounts to the “end of our hopes”. In the

event

of completing their

studies

during the

pandemic

or being forced to go back

home

, they wished to find their

jobs

still waiting for them. All they wanted was to get

opportunities

to make their

lives

worth living despite the

crisis

. “It is scary to think about what would happen if the

virus

would still be here when I graduate

next

year. Of

course

, I have a job back

home

, but as it is, many have been retrenched. It may not be the same

next

year”, Peter said. “I would start searching for

opportunities

here in

Hong

Kong

. I will

use

that

one

-year graduate Visa [Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG)] to prolong my stay. I think I’m more useful for my family when in

Hong

Kong

than back in

Africa

”,

John

said. But some were more optimistic about the

future

: “

This

is a new normal. It doesn’t help to mourn. We need to embrace a

future

with

Covid-19

. I

don’t

mind returning to

Africa

as

it’s

my

home

.

Home

is the best. I believe in the

future

of

Africa

. The

pandemic

is going to uplift us rather than destroy us. We will find better ways of living. I need to apply the nursing skills I obtained here in

Africa

. There is no other

time

.

It’s

now”, Ugo said. These discoveries highlight how

hope

and

hopelessness

, tied to aspirations and the

future

, are dependent on the ‘capacity to aspire’: “[a] navigational capacity nurtured by possibility, of real-

world

conjectures and reflections- thrives on practice, repetitions, exploration, conjecture and refutation” (Appadurai, 2013:69;

cf

Crapanzano

, 2003). The

importance

of scholarships, stable

Covid-19

situation

,

jobs

, staying abroad, and adaptation are emphasized by the

students

as critical for hoping. Appadurai argued that the

future

is a cultural fact,

hence

, it's not perplexing to see

African

students

immediately projecting into the

future

through articulations of their optimism and pessimism when confronted with

Covid-19

related uncertainty. 1.5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: EVERYDAY

HOPE

IN EARLY

COVID-19

Narratives

of

hope

spread across the themes I discussed above. Peter believes in a possible

vaccine

and sees

students

abroad as beacons of

hope

.

Esther

distrusts but succours indigenous knowledge

systems

despite the

lack

of scientific proof on their efficiency.

Both

Peter and

Esther

see

God

and

hence

prayer as central to

hope

processes during the

pandemic

. Elber envisions a

future

with

societies

persuaded by the

epidemic

to be ingenious and

governments

forced to be

both

responsive and responsible.

Oba

is thankful to social

media

for necessitating him to participate in funerals in

Africa

despite mobility challenges. All

participants

generally see

protests

as signalling a

future

of active participation of

Africans

in civic spaces. Equally represented are

narratives

of

hopelessness

,

fear

, frustration,

doubt

and worry.

Students

worry about

pandemic

falsehoods

peddled on social

media

.

Mel

is frustrated by the dogma in

Africa

that

Covid-19

or any other viral infection is curable. She and

John

also

fear

that poor, disabled and corrupt

health

systems

could result in a hopeless catastrophe. Joycelyn recaptures the helplessness of illegal Zimbabweans in South

Africa

compared to her hopeful

situation

in

Hong

Kong

. Several

students

are apprehensive about the doubts

Africans

place on testing and testing

equipment

. Grace,

Oba

and Hugo point to livelihood distress in

Africa

due to social distancing.

John

never wants to set foot in

Africa

to remain useful to his family from abroad.

Mel

thinks

it’s

better to be sick while abroad than in

Africa

⸺ she finds healthcare

systems

to be more reassuring abroad. All these

narratives

of

hope

and

hopelessness

centre on my respondents’ juxtaposition of

Africa

’s 1) human, sociocultural, structural and supernatural (in)capacities with 2) the (potential) severity of

Covid-19

in

Africa

. What can we make of these

narratives

?

Firstly

,

Covid-19

experiences

are distinctly

context

-specific (

cf

. Carling and Schewel, 2018). I learnt from my

interviews

that these raw

experiences

were severely globalised through everyday transnational interconnections

/

communication between the

people

in

Africa

and their acquaintances abroad (

cf

. Vertovec, 2009:447).

Therefore

, as

students

worried and hoped for their safety abroad, they

also

fretted and hoped for the wellbeing of their fellow

relatives

and

friends

in

Africa

(

cf

.

Crapanzano

, 2003).

Secondly

, the

African

diasporan community provided glimpses of

hope

and resilience for

societies

back in

Africa

(ibid). The

students

were earlier entangled in the “the Chinese

virus

” stereotype.

African

societies

initially

accused them of “consuming bats and crabs” and spreading the

virus

but now upheld them as pillars of material,

information

and moral support⸺ beacons of

hope

.

Thirdly

,

students

said

Africa

(even with very low

virus

rates at the

time

) was on a somewhat hopeless pedestal as far as they could perceive its structural and institutional capacity to handle the

virus

effectively.

However

, as

Crapanzano

(2003) declares,

hope

thrives where

desire

ends―it thrives where the horizon of

pandemic

annihilation is gloomy. Fourthly, the

hope

described by my interlocutors is not silent, passive and timid. It is resistant, resilient and adaptive

hope

that compels

Africans

to increase their dosages of agency, faith and prayer, and DIY initiatives aimed not only at coping and limiting damage in the present but

also

securing better

futures

(

cf

.

Ortner

, 2016; Barrios, 2016).

Africans

were said to be combining their trust in

God

with other economic and

health

actions in the absence of functional economic and

health

systems

—

this

is quite a deviation from

Crapanzano

’s view of static

hope

. So, was there

hope

in the early stages of

Covid-19

in

Africa

? Certainly. It may not have been supported by a detailed structural or macro-level map (due to poverty,

corruption

and other thorny governance

issues

), but it was evident in the everyday responses of

people

to the

pandemic

. It was

hope

stemming from their daily victories and losses; from their

worries

, frustrations, and

fears

of gloomy possibilities; and their incapacities and ineptness earlier on.

This

hope

compelled them to start adopting herbal remedies without scientific proof of

cure

and trust in divine salvation as geo-politico-economic

systems

worldwide evidently faltered. It moved them to protest

/

dissent amid an

epidemic

and enterprise diversely from their backyards. The reader could say

this

hope

sounds unrealistic and imaginary, but it is significant because it carried

African

societies

through the early uncertainties of

Covid-19

(

cf

. Mattingly, 2010) . 1.6 FUNDING STATEMENT I declare that I received no financial support specific to

this

paper

.