She has found international fame as a musician, but Sona Jobarteh has a bigger mission — to use culture to empower Africans to reform their countries.

Jobarteh has been performing with the kora — a 21-stringed African harp — on the world stage since she was five years old, becoming the first professional female kora player in the West African country of The Gambia. You can hear her vocals on the soundtrack to the movie “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

Wanting to give Gambians a sense of pride in their own culture, Jobarteh is now building an expansive campus for academic and cultural studies — complete with concert hall, amphitheater and recording studio.

History of the academy

Jobarteh founded The Gambia Academy in 2015, teaching school-age children a mainstream curriculum alongside African history, culture and traditional music.

Her idea was to create a course of study that highlighted the country’s culture in a way that could be replicated and implemented across the country.

The Academy started with 21 students — “to symbolize the kora’s 21-stings,” said Jobarteh — in a makeshift facility in Farato, a rural town in western Gambia.

More than half of the children were orphans from rural communities, who had little or no access to education. The intake has since expanded to 40 students, whose fees are paid by Jobarteh.

But with a growing waiting list of new applicants, the academy is expanding to a purpose-built site in Kartong, southwestern Gambia, with capacity for 500 students, ranging in age from eight to 18.

The academy also plans to invite international students and musicians to further the educational experience of the children.

“Center for cultural knowledge”

Building in a remote location in rural Gambia comes with plenty of challenges: “heat, humidity and heavy downpours” along with “termite infestation and snakes,” said the British project manager Ron Mitchell in an interview.

But for Mitchell, the project is worth the hardship. “For the first time there will be a place of learning in a bright, natural setting that blends African tradition, arts and culture with academia that allows disadvantaged young people to learn alongside adults from all over the world,” he said.

The design seeks to use various sustainable, locally sourced materials including timber, natural straw and compressed earth blocks. The site will also be self-sufficient, using solar power for water and electricity.

The most eye-catching elements are the “five specialist cultural facilities” — including a multimedia department, concert hall and archive library — which Jobarteh hopes will form a “center for cultural knowledge.”

The project has received $45,000 from UNICEF, enough to begin construction in November on the Junior Department’s main building. Meanwhile, fundraising is underway for the remainder of the estimated $3 million total cost, with the aim of completing the full build by the end of 2021.

“I can only walk as far as the corner,” she said. “In terms of running, I can’t imagine when that will happen, if ever.”

She is one of thousands around the world for whom Covid-19 has turned into a chronic condition. Gahan and other Covid-19 “long haulers” feel they aren’t yet getting recognition for an illness that has disabled them for months, with no end in sight.

“I’m a clinical psychologist, and this is not anxiety,” she said. “If doctors just say ‘We don’t know,’ it’s better than saying Covid symptoms only last two weeks.”

Many hospitalized for Covid-19 at risk to become ‘long haulers’

Researchers from the Academic Respiratory Unit of the North Bristol NHS Trust in the UK looked at 110 Covid-19 patients, whose illnesses required hospital stays for a median of five days between March 30 and June 3.

Twelve weeks after patients were released from the hospital, 74% of them reported symptoms, including breathlessness and excessive fatigue.

Despite these symptoms, however, 104 of the 110 patients in the study had normal basic blood test results, with just 12% showing an abnormal chest X-ray and 10% showing restrictive lung function through spirometry tests.

The British Medical Journal released new guidance for health providers in August on how to treat long-haul Covid-19 patients, estimating that up to 10% of all people who have tested positive could develop a prolonged illness. The guidance includes specific blood tests to perform, possibly referring patients to pulmonary rehabilitation and having them use pulse oximetry at home to measure oxygen saturation in the blood.

Results like these fly in the face of a narrative that took hold early in the pandemic, in which many medical professionals believed that the average Covid-19 patient would be sick for a couple weeks, clear the virus and be fine afterward.

That turns out not to be the case for everyone. The BMJ guidance cited “weak or absent antibody response, relapse or reinfection, inflammatory and other immune reactions, deconditioning, and mental factors such as post-traumatic stress” as contributing to longer-term symptoms. It acknowledged that similar parallels had occurred in patients with SARS and MERS.

“The classic case we all have in our hands is not always what really happens,” said Dr. MeiLan King Han, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. “For the patients I have followed, many continue to complain of cough, breathing issues and severe fatigue long after their first infection.”

Long haulers and dysautonomia

One of the key issues in caring for each long-haul Covid-19 patient is to figure out how many of their symptoms can be chalked up to the heart and lungs and how much of the illness is actually the result of a deeper form of neurological dysfunction the coronavirus has unspooled, according to Noah Greenspan, a New York-based physical therapist and founder of the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation.

Before engaging in physical or respiratory therapy, he asks that all his patients get a full workup from their doctor to rule out a cardiac condition, stroke or pulmonary embolism before starting physical therapy.

Some patients’ symptoms are mild and can start a more traditional rehab plan, he said, “but there are others, which are turning into the biggest group of people, which are these long haulers.”

The primary trend across the Covid-19 long haulers that Greenspan is working with is a condition called dysautonomia, a condition marked by a miscommunication between the autonomic nervous system and the rest of the body.

The autonomic nervous system regulates automatic body functions such as breathing, sleep and digestion. When it’s not working, symptoms can present in myriad different ways, depending on the person.

“Reach into a bag of symptoms and pull out a bag of symptoms, and that’s what they have for the day,” Greenspan said. “It’s a twisted ball of yarn and takes a week to unravel one string.”

While shortness of breath and cardiovascular problems do present in his patients, Greenspan said, these are not usually the most common underlying cause of their misery.

Gahan and others with long-haul Covid-19 symptoms face a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which refers to a sharp rise in heart rate that occurs when moving from a reclining to standing position. The pull of gravity causes blood to pool in the legs. This condition can cause dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting.

“Their heart rate goes up 50 to 75 points if they get up to get water,” Greenspan said. “They have fast heart rates that don’t have anything to do with what they’re actually doing, that are not commensurate with their workload.”

Many patients are exhibiting neurological symptoms consistent with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, according to the BMJ and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. That diagnosis requires at least six months of symptoms, a benchmark most long haulers haven’t yet reached.

For many, lung damage not the biggest issue

Many Covid-19 patients feel that the medical system is gaslighting them, telling them there’s nothing wrong even though their whole lives have been upended by Covid-19’s aftermath.

Corey Coopersmith, a 36-year-old fitness consultant in Las Vegas, hasn’t been able to work since first getting sick in late February. He suffers a constant ebb and flow of symptoms, and yet visit after visit to medical specialists has turned out a series of “normal” lab tests.

“A month ago, I had a pulmonary exam, and I got 120% on the gas exchange test,” Coopersmith said, noting the doctor told him, “Your lung function is amazing.”

But a breakthrough came when he finally visited an immunologist who performed tests that indicated abnormally low function of immune cells, including T cells and B cells.

“Have you been tested for HIV?” the immunologist asked Coopersmith, he recalled. “Your blood work looks like someone about to get AIDS.”

A mixed martial arts fighter in his 20s, Coopersmith was in great shape when he contracted Covid-19 in February, boasting of a resting heart rate of 58 beats per minute.

Now though, when he wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, POTS can drive his heart rate to 200.

To make it possible to sleep under his new constraints, he bought a continuous positive airway pressure machine, a device with a face mask that pushes oxygen into his lungs.

“I lie there gasping for air, fighting for life,” he said.

For many, lung damage not the biggest issue

Coopersmith is one of many Covid survivors trying to grasp why he feels so breathless even though his lung function is excellent.

“I feel like my lungs have recovered quite well,” Gahan, the clinical psychologist in the UK, said.

Her main issue has been pinpointing what has been causing the storms of illness, which are primarily neurological symptoms, including migraines and numbness in her feet and hands. She feels they can be explained by dysautonomia.

“I can’t do anything except to just go to bed,” she said, noting how lights and sounds and emotional stressors exacerbate her ongoing sickness. “I can’t stand any interaction.”

Patients hope their stories of halted recoveries might dissuade others from taking risks with infection by traveling, partying or gathering in large groups prior to development and distribution of a vaccine.

“It’s not about fatigue. It’s about really nasty symptoms that take over your whole life for who knows how long,” Gahan said. “Think about people like me when you’re thinking about what decisions you should make.”

Leeds, playing with the high-tempo pressing style so typical of Bielsa’s sides, leveled at 3-3 on Mateusz Klich’s 66th minute goal, which he started and finished. But Leeds could not hold out under intense pressure from Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Returning to the top-flight after 16 long years, Leeds could scarcely have made a poorer start as new signing Robin Koch conceded a penalty as Salah’s shot deflected from his knee onto his outstretched arm.

Leeds protested to referee Michael Oliver, but his decision was confirmed by the video assistant referee and Salah blasted the ball home down the middle.

But any thoughts of an easy home victory were quickly put to bed as new England international Kalvin Phillips found Jack Harrison with a raking long pass and the on-loan Manchester City man did superbly to cut inside and beat Alisson Becker with a powerful low shot on 12 minutes.

Liverpool went ahead again eight minutes later as Virgil Van Dijk powered home a header from an Andy Robertson corner but the Dutch defender was at fault soon afterward for the second Leeds equalizer.

He miscued a clearance and Patrick Bamford was on hand to score neatly to make it 2-2.

Both sides were showing defensive frailty and it was another indifferent clearance from a free kick that afforded Salah the opportunity for his second goal, controlling quickly before powering his shot into the top left of the Leeds net.

The second half was a calmer affair, with Leeds matching Liverpool for possession and deservedly leveling through Klich’s fine strike until striker Rodrigo, making his debut, mistimed his challenge to concede a needless penalty that Salah was never going to miss.

Salah acknowledged the part the opponent had played in a pulsating start to the new season.

“Leeds are a tough team. They had a great game and reacted really well,” he told Sky Sports.

“I’m happy about the result and we have to keep on improving. It’s important for me to stay focused. We had a good game.”

Klopp summed up the thoughts of many after a memorable clash.

“What a game. Football as it’s best. What a spectacle,” the Red boss said.

Lacazette at the double

The opening goal of the Premier League campaign was scored by Alexandre Lacazette as he helped Arsenal to a thumping 3-0 win over promoted Fulham in the early kick off.

Fulham started brightly but that initial good work was undone by sloppy defensive work as Arsenal’s new signing Willian set up the Frenchman in a goalmouth scramble for his ninth-minute strike.

It is the second time Lacazette has scored the first goal of the Premier League season, achieving the feat in 2017-18 against Leicester City.

Fulham fought hard to retrieve the situation but the Cottagers fell further behind at the start of the second half as Arsenal’s new signing Gabriel Magalhaes scored after a corner, the ball finding the net off the top of his shoulder.

The icing on the cake for Mikel Arteta’s FA Cup winners came later in the second half as a sublime team move saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang get off the mark for the season to make it 3-0 with his 11th goal in 11 games for the Gunners.

In the afternoon match, Wilfried Zaha scored the only goal as Crystal Palace beat Southampton 1-0 at Selhurst Park.

Zaha, linked with a move away from Palace, volleyed home in the 13th minute on an assist by Andros Townsend.

Southampton pressed hard for an equalizer with last season’s top scorer Danny Ings denied by a fine late save from home keeper Vicente Guaita.

Attendees of President Trump’s Thursday rally in Michigan told “Hannity” election correspondent Lawrence Jones that they support the Republican because he “tells it like it is.”

“Why are you supporting the president?” Jones asked one woman wearing a “MAGA” hat.

“Because he tells it like it is,” she answered. Two other women told Jones that “he’s real.” One man indicated that Trump “tells the truth.”

BIDEN LEADS 2020 RACE, BUT PLURALITY THINKS TRUMP WILL WIN ELECTION: POLL

“If you ask me, I think we’ve been surrounded by a bunch of people that aren’t telling us the truth,” he told Jones.

Others at the rally said they didn’t believe polling that showed former Vice President Joe Biden beating Trump in the 2020 election.

When asked whether Biden had a shot at winning Michigan, the first woman said “no, he’s got to be conscious.” One man similarly criticized Biden’s public appearances, saying that “he can’t even finish a whole sentence.”

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A Monmouth University poll published earlier Thursday showed Biden leading Trump by nine percentage points among registered voters.

However, a plurality of voters (48 percent versus 43 percent) said they thought Trump would win the election.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.