Dr. Esther Mombo has worked closely with the Interfaith Health Program for a number of years and was a visiting faculty member at Emory’s Candler School of Theology in spring 2018. She is Professor in the Department of Theology at St. Paul’s University (Kenya) where is Director of International Partnerships for the university. In this piece, Professor Mombo reflects on what numbers can and cannot tell us about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ezra Chitando is the Regional Coordinator for Southern Africa for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy. In this piece, Dr. Chitando draws on the lessons learned from the HIV pandemic to remind us of the need to reflect on what we can be thankful for in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
This piece by Amanullah De Sondy examines the ways in which COVID-19 is changing Islam within the context of Ramadan observance. His piece employs a lens of gender and sexuality (among others) to examine how COVID-19 is impacting the observance of Ramadan.
In this short piece, the Reverend Melissa Sexton discusses the importance of self-care during this outbreak and offers some suggestions for encouraging mindfulness and calm by drawing on spiritual practice.
In this piece written for the Religion and Global Society program at the London School of Economics, John Blevins, Director of the Interfaith Health Program, reflects on both the distinctive contributions of religious communities to the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the ways that religion can complicate a sound public health response.
This presentation surveys the various effects of religion as a social force on the COVID-19 response globally. Those effects are varied. Religion may hinder a sound public health response; for example, religious devotion has led some faith communities to continue meeting in person, contributing to the spread.