Ghanaian War Vet Goes the Distance to Fight Virus

A 95-year-old Ghanaian World War II veteran walked 23 kilometres in one week to raise funds for healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic in Africa. Joseph Hammond logged 3.2 kilometres each day to reach his target on Africa Day earlier this week in Ghana’s capital, Accra. As of Thursday, he had raised almost $26,000. Hammond fought the war for Great Britain like thousands of Africans that came under colonial rule at the time. “I fought in the war which ended 75 years ago. Now we are faced with another invisible war – COVID-19,” Hammond said in a video message on his JustGiving crowdfunding page. Hammond said his aim was to raise 500,000 pounds ($613,000) to support “vulnerable veterans and the front-line workers all involved to kick away COVID-19 from Africa”. As of Thursday, more than 124,000 people have been confirmed as having been infected and at least 3,696 have died, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 51,000 have recovered.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA