Category: Surviving

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After COVID-19, I am more in tune with my body!

By early August 2020, people were still coming into terms with the effects of COVID-19. Businesses had been dead or were dying due to the stringent measures put in place to avoid contamination. 

Lockdowns and other containment measures had left universities, businesses and entrepreneurs counting losses. Nevertheless, the government in North Cyprus was putting all efforts to support residents to remain safe and treat those infected effectively.

In August, six months after the first case on the Island, it looked like the spread of the virus was going down. Hence, some businesses opened their doors and welcomed tourists and locals alike. People, especially students, hurriedly went back to work in search of the elusive coin. It had been several months since the last time people could meet and interact freely without a care. Now, masks and sanitation was the new normal. 

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My Silent Protest

My heart bleeds for my nation.
My eyes are filled with tears by what we have become.
My hands are tied with chains of nepotism, tribalism and politics.
My feet are bound by the pandemic limitations and travel bans.
My imagination is polluted by tear gas.
My mind bombarded by lies and propaganda.
My thoughts linger on how to move forward and make a difference.

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Touching: coronavirus has made us appreciate what we took for granted

It is amazing how most of us tend to live our lives so unconsciously that we just pass through life without noticing some of the amazing moments around us. Those moments actually are enough to give life meaning. 

In recent months, especially, we have all craved for touch. A hug, a kiss, or both from loved ones. However, containment measures put in place to reduce the spread of Coronavirus has interrupted what we once took for granted.

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How I reconnected with my self during the lockdown

Like many other students in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Annette Kiru was excited about the New Year, 2020. 2020 was not only a new year, but also a new decade. The promise for a new and amazing start created a bubble of joy and filled people with renewed hope and zeal for life.

Kiru particularly looked forward to making a trip back to Kenya for a few weeks and head back to TRNC for the final leg of her master degree. Little did she know the tour to Kenya would be one to never forget!

“I was in Kenya when the lockdown happened,” says Kiru noting that initially, she thought that the situation was not that serious. You see, at the time -early March- life in Africa was still ‘normal’ as the continent had reported only but a few Covid-19 cases.

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My intriguing experience in North Cyprus as a student

On their way from the airport, the prevalent deserted road and barren land stared back at them. The school bus cruised through the dry Savannah and scrubs majestically. Outside, a heat shimmer could be seen escaping the overheated roadway, with each passing breeze lifting dust from the bare land. Inside, the new students who had just landed on the Island sat with faces transfixed onto the windows trying to understand their new world.

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As soon as I landed in Cape Town, I missed home

“I left Nairobi on 24th July 2018 and landed at Cape Town International Airport on the same day,” says Mwangi Gakuya, a middle-aged Kenyan man who travelled abroad for a job opportunity.

Mwangi observes that his first experience of the coastal weather in the west coast of South Africa was unwelcoming. He was not used to the high humidity and felt rather uncomfortable. But he was optimistic.

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Giving voice to the voiceless

Just like any investigative journalist, Pat Robert Larubi was chasing people and organizations in search of special feature articles. When he was not writing about politics, he was using his writing skills to highlight injustices including human rights and ways to resolve them. It is while solving these injustices that he was enticed into one of East Africa’s major discrimination challenges, Albinism.

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