Life in Self-Quarantine: A Tale of Two Children

By 

Shameem Mwanahamisi (8 years)

Saleem Mwanahamisi (10 years)

Shameem

Life is very difficult with all this drama going around. We remember one day, our mother (who is a very hard working woman) called for a family meeting to educate us about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little did I know it will affect us. Now we are here in self-quarantine, and I am wondering how it feels like to go outside again, because it has been a long time since I have gone outside. Nothing interesting usually happens around here, our normal life is simple, at times boring. With self-quarantine I usually get bored, and I don’t have that much things to entertain myself. I wish coronavirus disease did not even exist. A video clip that our mom showed us says it is more transmissible, though less deadly, than SARS. I don’t understand why they make us go through lockdown, it just seems unfair to me and maybe to everyone else. I hate coronavirus disease so much, and the curfew is even worse than before, it is NOT FAIR. My brother Salman got sick a few days ago which was terrifying, thank GOD he is getting better and sometimes he looks REALLY cute.

Saleem

What I hate is how the police treated the citizens of Kenya with greed for power in their eyes and not a trace of humane instinct of law and order. Uhuru Kenyatta should not tolerate such behavior; it is enough to deal with cases for COVID-19 and business problems. I do not understand why if you go against the curfew even for one second you get beaten by the officers. This is why my mother decided we should not go out of the house to avoid police beating. She is trying her best to help us and encourage us; she is always saying that “we are living a normal life”. And somehow she is right. Without her I could not have been living this wonderful and fantastic life I am living today even if it’s so boring.

Shameem

There are 7 more coronavirus cases in Kenya which means it is 38 in total. I know it is a lot of cases just in Kenya, imagine the whole earth has corona virus. Did I mention that Italy had 900 deaths per day, and that is why I agree to be in self-quarantine even though it’s really boring, and I know it will never get better in this house, weird huh I know; we understand our mother has to save the money to buy food just in case the lockdown is extended, so there is no money to buy us toys and other entertainment games to make our self-quarantine exciting. I also do know whether the corona virus is spreading right now, so I am not complaining. But, we can all stop the spread of coronavirus disease.

Th corona virus is spread by: 

1.      Not washing hands

2.      Touching your face with dirty hands

3.      Picking your nose and touching other people

4.      Sneezing without covering your mouth

So all of us should practice personal hygiene.

Saleem

Lockdown here in Kenya is unpopular although it is a popular topic. We are forced to stay indoors for a fortnight and after that we are not supposed to leave the estate for un-emergency purposes. Salman our baby brother is having a disease that causes pimples on his face. For the past days he has attracted worried looks from us. He doesn’t know he is sick. We got him medicine for his pimples, so far he’s living his life the same as usual. Two days ago, I watched a movie called “CONTAGION”, it is about the origin and transmission of an airborne virus. Even the first 18 minutes of the movie demystify what I know about corona viruses. The movie was made when Shameem was born and when I was 2, but it makes perfect sense today.

Shameem

My sister (house help) really hates to be self-quarantined; sometimes she plays for us music that isn’t that good. Sometimes my mother struggles with buying food, even if she uses delivery. The delivery people can’t come inside the gate of my estate and we cannot get outside our house to pick it up. So, we often need guards to help us deliver the food to our door. Other children in the estate are not self-quarantined, they are playing outside. I bet they are exposing themselves to corona virus because even from my window I can clearly hear them coughing and sneezing maniacally. That is not a good practice. All of us should cover our mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing to practice personal hygiene.