Final Research Presentation

                                          

It has been a great class! Please copy and past the link below to see my presentation.

Thanks for being such a kind audience!

                                                                                 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B_UtPZEWVt6z6NntvCpTfLMSj82mn7mD/view?usp=sharing

 July 12, 2020

 

Dear cousin Carmen,

 

I hope this letter finds you and your family well.   

 

While watching the news today, I see that the  pandemic has affected many people: here in the United States alone, 134,000 have died , and 3,184,000 have been infected by the Covid 19. It has affected our life here in California as well, some more than others. I find myself working on my computer from home more than ever, and competing for internet access with my children and neighbors all the time. We are able to go out more now, so we do not have to be in our small apartment as we did at the beginning of the pandemic.  Luckily, we have access to food, I still have my job, and no one that I know has died. We just need to take precautions of wearing masks, keeping our physical distance from other people until they find a vaccination. How is this pandemic different from other pandemics in history? Our grandmother ‘s youngest sister died due to the Spanish Flu, and I often wondered how did we end up with this flu in Mexico back in the early 1900’s.

According to an article in the New Statesman by Simon Heffner, published May 8, 2020,  there are two versions of where the Spanish flu pandemic began. One theory is that the  pandemic started in Kansas, not Spain, in May of 1918 and it was brought to Europe by the soldiers across the Atlantic. The other theory is that it originated in the military hospital camp at Etaples, on the French coast, due to it being overcrowded and filled with diseases of various types during the First World War. Within that camp, they also contained large animals for provisions, and there were thousands of men leaving each day to go to the war front or to England. They called it the Spanish Flu because they were the first country to announce it and it had expanded very quickly in Spain, more than any other place. In fact, their  King Alfonso XIII almost died of the flu. By June 2, 700 people had died in 10 days, and in Madrid 100,000 people had been infected. In London, 1700 died from June 15 to August 3, and overall 230,000 died in Britain. 

Eventually,  the flu was exported from Europe to all over the world, especially in the outpost of the British Empire. For instance, 14 million people died in India, and many were affected in the west and south of Africa. Furthermore, soldiers returning to the U.S. and elsewhere, took with them the new, more virulent strain that had started the second wave in Europe.  Ultimately, 60 - 100 million people died all over the world including my grandmother’s sister. People back then were instructed to stay home if they were sick, but most of them continued to go to work while wearing their masks. 

There is much to be learned from this historic epidemic. One has been the need to physically distance, not congregate in groups and to wear masks. Although there are populations in the U.S. that prefer to ignore these lessons, many of us in the Bay Area adhere to these precautions.  Similar to our grandmother’s experience as a teacher, education has been severely impacted, teachers do not work on campus and children are stuck in their homes. In addition, Heffner tells us, the Spanish flu came in two waves. First, one came in the spring and then in the summer, and the highest occurred in  autumn when more people died during October.  We have yet to discover what the Fall will bring for our community or our nation. This is a different virus with many unknowns to scientists or the public.

 Here in the United States, the pandemic has tremendously affected our low socio-economic population. Many of them have lost their jobs in the service industry, and those who had a small business, may take a long time to recuperate or may lose their businesses. Lastly, my heart goes out to those families who have small children, live in crowded living quarters, and have lost their jobs. On top of that, they find themselves struggling with distant learning, since many of them don’t have the technical skills and academic knowledge to help their children with their school work. 

To date, in comparison with the Spanish Flu, not as many people have perished. Also, I am hopeful a vaccination for this epidemic will be found soon since our science and technology have advanced in the 100 years since the Spanish Flu.  

We will continue to protect ourselves, but most of all, we wish this pandemic passes soon, it becomes an additional event that is part of our history and offers us lessons for the future.

Take care of yourself and say hello to all the family,

Love,

 

Alma