ARTIST: BLESSING MAZANO
COUNTRY: ZIMBABWE
MATERIALS USED: N/A
Covid 19 has affected many things in Zmbabwe and the whole world at large.Primary, secondary and tertiary schools have been closed,producing companies were closed,boaerder posts are closed,basic commodities are expensive, a lot of people are losing their lives,domestic violence have increased,more divorce cases are recorded,medication is expensive,a lot of peoplelose their jobs, more internal and foreign games were suspended and postponed, crime rates increased,GDP of Zimbabwe decreased and Economic Growth and Development have negatively affected by Covid 19.Not only the above mentioned things has been affected but as an artist,i have been also greatly affected by this pandemic.
Firstly,because of Corona virus,i am not able to organise live shows because of National lockdown.Gatherings of more than 50 people has been banned.I used to get most of my income from these live shows but unfortunately, now i am suffered because i have no other big sources of money other than doing live shows.
More so,as a ZimDancehall Gospel artist,i am now not able to visit my studios to record and release more tunes.Due to Covid 19,the government of Zimbabwe has urged its citizens to stay at their homes as a way of reducing the spread of Covid 19.I generated some of my income from selling CDs but now because of Covid 19,i am not able to do so.
As a musician, Corona virus has negatively affected me through stopping me from releasing more music because of inadquate funds to finance my producer for audio recording and video shooting. Now i am bankrupt because I spend all of my savings to buy basic necessities to use during this national lockdown.
Furthermore, our music promoters and sponsors have been negatively affected by Covid 19 so they are now constrained financially to such an extent that they are not even able to promote musicians.Without a music promoter,a musician can do nothing so Covid 19 is a serious threat to me as an upcoming artist.
To add more,some of us as musicians,we also obtain money from schools after performing at welcome bashes especially at universities. Now schools were closed because of Covid 19.School premises are now used as quarantine centres to those who may found positive to Covid 19.Border posts were closed meaning as an artist i am not going to have international live shows.
Conclusively, together as youths and upcoming artists, we can end Covid 19 through teaching the whole nation thriugh music to take their paramount responsibilities of preventing the spread of Corona virus by washing our hands regularly for more than 20 seconds using hand sanitizers, maintaining social distancing,wearing face masks,avoiding handshaking and social gatherings and stop publicising false information about Covid 19.
