Dear Editor,
I’m a first year student, who has completed ENG 1203 at the University of Guyana. I’m writing this letter with the aim of sharing some of the lessons I’ve learnt during my quarantine time, with you and the reading audience.
Since Covid-19 has taken the world by storm affecting most of the population, during this pandemic, I’ve chosen to spend time with my family, reflect on my life and participate in some soul searching. I’ve also learnt that many world leaders were unprepared for the recent events, some displayed weak leadership while some countries remained corrupt. I’ve decided to spend my quarantine time with my children, something that was previously very difficult, due to juggling my day job while attending the University of Guyana. I’ve learnt more about their different personalities, for example my elder son is more of a polished child while the younger is much more jovial. Due to this discovery, I’ve had to come up with creative ways to entertain them by means of either playing board games or watching cartoons of their choice. This has helped me to improve my parenting skills while harnessing stronger family bonds. I also took the time to reflect on my life and make informed decisions such as eating healthy, by making home cooked meals which consist of a balanced diet. I’ve also participated in some amount of physical activity with the aim of getting fit and improving my health. I managed also to do some soul searching, I took refuge in God while coming to the harsh realisation that I’m a single parent mother in these terrible times. These realisations, have helped me to not only become a stronger woman but to accept the fact that change is inevitable. I have also realised the value of life and to appreciate the people that surround me since I’ve seen the amount of devastation and lives lost to the coronavirus while browsing social media platforms.
My smart devices have been my binoculars which I use to see the world. Italy in a matter of weeks went from discovering its first Covid-19 case to restricting persons from entering their country. Since the virus is transmitted through personal contact, the virus dispersed quickly throughout the nation causing them to lose thousands of persons, inclusive of medical professionals. I’ve also learnt about the weak leadership of the American president who has refused to seek medical help from the Cubans and also had stopped the shipment of protective gear from Canada all because of his pride. I’ve also learned about the corruption that occurred in my country due to the recent elections. This corruption has led to members of various political parties being taken to court countless times and preventing the swearing in of a government. I believe that a duly appointed government could have released more money to the Ministry of Public Health, helping Guyana to treat infected persons and even reduce the spread of the coronavirus throughout my motherland. Moreover I would never trade these lessons that I’ve learnt during the past couple of days because I’ve, so far, built a stronger bond with my children, found time for reflection and soul searching, not forgetting all the information I’ve found out about the world and how the coronavirus has impacted it.
Yours faithfully,
Zandi Baird
