It is summer time once again! The excitement among party-goers during this season cannot aptly be captured in words. Therefore, I will not even attempt to veer that route in this entry.

Summer always comes with its special offerings in terms of music and cultural festivals and any such kind of parties. The common denominator among all these events is that they pull multitudes. What follows is the demand for sanitary services which are mostly shared by the group.

That brings in the question of the level of hygiene and how much the patrons present are contributing towards upholding the same. Given the common group dynamics, such ideals are never easily achieved due to the diverse nature of people’s backgrounds and how they are oriented towards the same.

As a country, we are facing a near-crisis as our summer season has coincided with a cholera outbreak, which has now sadly affected 22 districts of the country’s 28. The devastation that the outbreak has already caused cannot be overemphasized and the threat it continues to pose cannot be downplayed either.

However, on the calendar, we still have some big annual events that are yet to take place. These are events whose planning spans months or even close to a year. It means by the time the events are weeks or months away, a good investment in both monetary and efforts have already been sacrificed.

This means it is not feasible to abruptly postpone or cancel them altogether. It means we are faced with a situation where we need to sustain a perfect balancing act to ensure that the events proceed albeit with strict observance of the right protocols to avoid making the platforms hotspots for the spread of the disease.

The Sand Music Festival starts today at Kambiri Beach in Salima. Arguably, SandFest remains one of the country’s biggest music and art events on the calendar and its allure cannot be ignored. We are assured that come Saturday morning, the beach at Kambiri will be a place filled with not only sand particles and the illuminating beautiful lakeshore sunlight, but also people from all walks of life.

Unfortunately, these thousands of people will be scrambling for the same sanitary services. It is inevitable. These people will be feasting from the same bowls around and within the restaurants and eateries that will be erected within the venue. It is just impossible to unknit these people during the three days of the event.

It is not just the SandFest that is expected to take place during this period. On the horizon is the Mulhako wa Alhomwe Cultural Festival that is scheduled for Chonde, Mulanje on October 9. This is another event on the calendar which enjoys massive patronage.

We also have other events such as the Hangout Festival, Blantyre Arts Festival, Chitipa-Karonga Cultural Festival and Mdauku wa Atonga that are coming up. All these events will bring together thousands of people to make merry.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has been reasonable and they say they will not issue any order to stop any of these events from happening probably owing to the same logistical upheavals that such an eventuality can cause among the organisers.

The only call and plea from MoH is for everyone involved to exercise caution in their approach. Their prayer is that every stakeholder should have it in mind that there is a war against cholera raging and necessary precautions need to be observed.

I do not think what is demanded from everyone during these events is beyond attainable. Hygiene values are personal yes! But where one’s actions can directly affect the next person, one always has to bear it in mind and act as responsibly as possible.

I feel we can all navigate through this period without acting as agents of escalating further spread of the outbreak. I believe we can all come back from these festivals without falling sick and continue being productive citizens of this nation. Let us go!

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