When I first heard of the virus ravaging Wuhan in December of 2019, I never thought it would come to adversely affect the world and my life in such a personal way. Fast forward over a year later and all we hear is a lockdown, death, disease, and other difficult terminologies. When the first case was announced in March 2020 in Kenya, I panicked. I knew I needed to come to be with my family in Kampala, Uganda. I did not delay and I got the next bus out of Kenya. A few days later, Uganda announced a lockdown that lasted over 6 months. During this period, we struggled. I was and still am unemployed. We struggled to stay afloat, working conditions became challenging, many lost their jobs, depression set in, domestic violence became the order of the day and many other ills.

One year on, I still have no stable income. I’m an online student and I find it hard to concentrate on my studies; I struggle with the effects of COVID-19. Inflation is at an all-time high. Food prices fluctuate all the time, basic commodities are expensive, and still, governments expect taxes to be paid and those same taxes are stolen by our selfish leaders.

This pandemic has changed our lives forever. I am however grateful to be near my children and wife. It is still quite challenging to predict the way forward, but I do my best to stay hopeful, I do my best to stay positive and wait for the time there will be some normalcy. Still, we have a long way to go, but we keep pressing on.