Markets and streets are teeming with toys and people. Almost all the stores and avenues are filled with all kinds of entertainments. It’s definitely the most hectic time of the year: Christmas and New Year’s Eve are fast approaching. However, with the rise in coronavirus infections and the shopping cart situation, a silhouette looms over the holiday season.
Before being moments of joy, leisure, reunions, family gatherings, the end of year celebrations often accompany a period of assessment. Indeed, for Westerners, they are often associated with snow, fir trees, or winter… However, for Africans, it is mainly an opportunity to get together as a family and to organize according to their means to decorate their table with appetizing dishes and typical food. Once again this year, covid-19 and the state of the shopping cart are playing the spoilsport. As a result, the enthusiasm for the organization of these festivities leaves something to be desired.
In African capitals like Cotonou, habits have not changed. And because, the economic situation in the country is not at all rosy. Apart from a few strings of lights placed here and there at strategic points of the city, the backbone of the capital does not show a craze for the said festivities.
Christmas and New Year’s celebrations in spite of everything
The holidays are a sensitive time of year because of the huge expenses related to the purchase of toys, food and other objects. They are an occasion for extraordinary festivities. But in a context of economic gloom marked by soaring food prices, the state of the housewife’s basket remains undesirable. The complaints in the families are diverse. “Pockets are downright dry right now and so far we’re wondering how to get through these festive times. I went to the market yesterday to see how feasible it was, but I didn’t take much before my pocket was empty and I returned home. Everything is expensive at the market,” says a father who wishes to remain anonymous. Above all, the party will still take place. And others prefer to shout out in thanksgiving. “Another 365 days that God grants us, we can only give thanks for the breath of life despite all the difficulties.”
In the markets and stores adorned with the colors of the festival, traders are waiting for customers who are eager to come. Here too, these merchants are inconsolable: “It doesn’t look like there’s a holiday. Compared to previous years, the market in the last two years is not good at all. It is difficult to sell a few toys,” say these sellers who are disappointed by the economic situation in the country.
A fearsome new guest
On the other hand, the other bone in the throat this holiday season is the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Thus the organization of these moments of festivities can very quickly become a real headache. In the West, some countries are considering a reconfinement during these festive periods in order to avoid a terrible wave of contamination in the coming weeks. On the other hand, in Africa, we are not yet sure that we have the situation under control. The restrictions in this area are already not to the liking of the population (the controversy around vaccination is still going on), it would be difficult for the government to think of new measures. Yet, the facts are real. The epidemiological situation is unpredictable. The new guest (Omicron) is excessively contagious according to the first scientific data. To cope with this, barrier measures and vaccination should remain a “must”.
The hugs, the big tables so characteristic of Christmas and New Year are thus to be proscribed, coronavirus obliges. Will the Christmas spirit survive against Omicron? Why not. Until we have more opportunities to come together, let’s protect ourselves and each other.
