Who do we deem as heroes? Are they folks with superhuman powers like Spiderman and Superman? Are they philanthropists with a deep pocket full of cash? How about the everyday people you come across on a daily basis?
Heroic acts started with regular people. They only became celebrities after they had something humane for their fellow citizens. Let’s look at a few of them, shall we?
1. Curbing the Taboo
Once upon a time in Ethiopia, there was a stigma that dug its clutches into young girls. It was the cultural stigma against young ladies during their periods. Menstruation was considered taboo and Ethiopian girls hide when they see their periods. They were made to believe that something was wrong with them or they were ready for marriage.
There wasn’t proper care or education on the matter so many of them used rags. They stayed at home when they saw their periods and didn’t do very well in school. Luckily for Freweini Mebrahtu, she got an opportunity to study in the United States and came back to Ethiopia in 2005 to make sure the girls didn’t have to relive her nightmare.
Because pads were either very expensive or unattainable, Freweini employed 43 Ethiopian women and they began making reusable pads that can last up to 2 years. She went to the Ethiopian President to discuss the stigmatization and because she spoke up, young women in Ethiopia are treated better, even during their periods. In 2019, she was awarded CNN Hero of the year and today, with her staff grown larger, they make over 700, 000 reusable pads a year, which are cost-effective and easily accessible.
2. Soap and Water
When the pandemic hit Afghanistan, a polio worker, Basira Popul, should have been at home waiting out the lockdown. Instead, she took to the streets presenting soaps to the community and educating them on how to stay sanitised and protected from the virus.
3. The Volunteer
Thabang Seleke volunteered himself for the first African trial of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 coronavirus vaccine, which was developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. With over 150 vaccine trials ongoing, humans are actually needed to test if they are safe and effective. This man from Soweto, South Africa, was one of the volunteers in a bid to rid humanity from the scourge of the pandemic.
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4. The Kiss of Life
Rocco Morabito was a photographer who won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for his award-winning photograph titled ‘Kiss of Life’. The picture depicted two workers hanging on a pole with one giving the other mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But this is not about Rocco. It is about the co-worker J.D. Thompson, who resuscitated his colleague after being jolted by over 4000 volts, stopping his heart. His safety harness prevented Randall Champion from falling and Thompson quickly reached him and gave him mouth-to-mouth.
He was unable to perform CPR, so he kept breathing into his lungs until he felt a small pulse. Then he carried Randall on the shoulder and descended, giving him CPR on the floor and reviving him before the paramedics showed up. Talk about a heroic co-worker.
5. Health Workers; The New SuperHeroes
We can’t fail to recognise them. The nurses, the doctors, the orderlies, everyone who put their lives at risk to care for those affected by the Coronavirus. They are our current heroes and we can’t help but be grateful to them.
6. Volunteers During The Pandemic
The volunteers and Non-governmental Organizations who took it upon themselves to feed the masses who were stuck in a lockdown and couldn’t fend for their families. They shared foodstuffs and groceries, making a bad situation bearable.
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