With this coronavirus pandemic, things are not moving well for me personally as I am self-employed and relying on a hand-to-mouth process, and being a single mother has never been ever so difficult.

A year ago I lost my only sister and the responsibility of caring for her two children, two of my own and my mother became solely my own. With a family to support it is hard for me, as I cannot fend for my kids, I am even worried if there will be any job opportunities for some of us after this pandemic is over. As a parent one begins to wonder what the next step will be. Looking at the children and my mother’s welfare and my being unable to attend any work to feed the family makes me helpless and leaves me in despair.

COVID-19 has disturbed even the education system, our kids cannot attend school and we are not aware as to when it will once again be safe for them to do so health-wise and also when this pandemic is under control. It has always been my dream to work towards a better future for my young ones and now I am beginning to wonder what will happen as this pandemic keeps increasing and not giving them a chance to go to school but rather they are now behind on their school year.

Only God knows what will happen next although I am thinking a lot about how things will fall into place.

 

Editor’s note: See NYT article- “South Africa Eases One of World’s Strictest Lockdowns.”