The first case of coronavirus was recorded in Sierra Leone on 31 March 2020. Since then the pandemic has led to deaths and disruption of the socio-economic lives of the people in Sierra Leone and around the world. The country is currently faced with a third wave of covid-19 which prompted President Julius Maada Bio to announce a curfew and other restrictions. Politico’s Nasratu Kargbo was out and about in the Western Area to get the views of people on how covid-19 has affected their lives.
Mafay Kadiatu Dauda- “I'm a student at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). COVID-19 has had a great impact on us students. When we started recording cases, by then we were taking exams. The exams were postponed till further notice, just imagine I was mentally ready, I had studied and was so ready for the exams. Knowing students, some relaxed and when the time came for the exams, there was a massive drop in performance and a lot of failures.
When we resumed in the second semester, classes were not on normal schedules anymore. IPAM has three shifts, but due to COVID, the lecturers had to combine us and because we had to catch up with the academic calendar, we took classes for long hours especially so there were no more evening classes due to the curfew. It wasn't easy because we had to go for classes very early and stay till evening and truly speaking at some point, some of us lost concentration. We face so many constraints again and I don't know what they will do for us when we resume, because our classes should start in the evening, so I don't know considering the curfew”.
Mariama Conteh- “I'm a housewife with three kids. I'll start with the recent one which is the ban on travel to UK, my kids and I were to travel to that place very soon; but with this restriction on Sierra Leone, we would have to wait. At some point they had to do online classes. My kids go to different schools, and the third wave got me worried thinking who they may get in contact with, maybe the person isn't practicing precautionary measures and these are kids”.
Rakiatu Mbayo- “I’m a business woman and own a store where I sell boards and sticks. I live at Hastings. Corona has affected me so much, especially my businesses. I'll start with the board and sticks, the inter-district lockdown had so much effect on my business. I usually go to the provinces to get my goods; but with this restriction I couldn't go. When all the goods were finished in the store, I had nothing and customers kept asking. I lost a lot of customers and money at the same time. I don't have problems with the precautionary measures, because it is a way to protect myself from the virus”.
Yakaday Kamara-“I am a businesswoman. I sell food items at Dovecote. This disease affected my life in many ways. I usually go to the village to buy okra, garden eggs, potato leaves, palm oil etc. depending on the season, but with the inter district lockdown, I could not travel. I usually sell all night at Dovecote, my colleagues and I stay there till morning, but with the curfew, we cannot. Things have become expensive; those who had reserves sell at inflated prices. My daughter got married in January and we were restricted to have less people at the wedding, it was economically good considering the budget, (giggles), it's a nice time to get married because of less expenditure. However, with some of us coming from extended family, some relatives got angry because they could not attend, and some stopped talking to me. They wanted us to postpone the wedding, if we did who would have known what could have happened; my daughter is now pregnant and I am happy”.
Maloka- “I own a sports cinema at Kissy, but the virus has been so unfair to me, my business was on the brink of collapsing altogether so i had to stand firm to put things in place. And I have upgraded my cinema to make my customers feel comfortable. When the state of emergency was lifted, people were allowed to come; but this latest surge and the one month restrictive measures, have affected my business again. Customers came during Euro 2020, I think we were at the group stage of Euro, so for the rest of the games I couldn't allow people because the President (Julius Maada Bio) banned cinemas from operating for one month. It has not been easy considering the DSTV charges etc. This is my major source of income. My wife used to sell drinks and yoghurt during games and Alhamdulilah she made money. So, now we pray that we start recording zero cases because the Olympics will be starting soon, and the Premier League will be starting in August and if the ban is extended it will be a problem”.
Alhaji Ibrahim Unis Kargbo, Imam at Masjid Huda- “We are happy that all those concerned are trying to make sure this disease does not get out of control. However worship is very important and I believe it is one way to fight the virus. One may say worship at home, that’s true but there is power in worshipping as a Jamaah. I do all my salaat in the masjid, it’s so strange doing it at home; the blessing of a man performing his salaat at the Masjid is way higher than performing it at home; but for women the blessing remains complete whether she performs her salaat at home or at the Masjid. We respect authority so we stay home, but I pray that as the cases drop, religious activities are allowed with emphasis on precautionary measures.”
Mohamed Mansaray, a civil servant- “There have been series of challenges, one has to adapt to, like wearing face masks, social distancing etc. I love going out at night and hanging out with friends at a bar, curfew has stopped that. Transportation has always been a problem and with the curfew, there is so much pressure; and it is very frustrating. What was very funny for me was the law on vaccination. Many of my colleagues and I are under 30 and the vaccine is over 30 persons. But the new regulation says if one is not vaccinated one should not be allowed to access public buildings. It logically meant that my colleagues and I could not access our office, but that was later settled. For me Corona has had impact on every facet, from education, entertainment, health etc. I mean it has changed our social interaction, our income etc.”
Abass Kanu- “As a driver, of a Sprinter poda-poda (midsize bus) on the Jui to Wilberforce route, corona has affected us drivers; for example before corona we take five passengers per row, now we are restricted to four. This reduces the income and I have to account daily to the owner of the vehicle. My apprentice (driver’s mate) will need his share and I also will want my own share.
Due to the curfew we have to rush and park the vehicle, because I live at Tengbeh Town and the car park is at Jui, so just imagine the rush! After packing the car at my boss's house, I have to rush up to get to my house. So it has not been easy.
Another problem is with face masks, many passengers are stubborn and do not want to use face masks. Sometimes we are held responsible for them, whilst other times we have to delay at check points”.
Copyright © Politico Online (21/07/21)
