My name is Julia Lutete, and I'm from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was born in the capital ( Kinshasa) and I'm 17 years old. I'm an African American ( Black) and I am from a Christian family. I came from a family of engineers. I moved to the United States when I was 11 years old. Right now, I'm a Freshman in the UK and still undecided on my major. This blog will be based on my real experience of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
This virus started in the winter of 2019 but was aggravated in the month of March. This affected people's daily life, it killed a lot of people, shut down businesses, and lower the economy. One unique thing to me about Covid-19 is the fact that I had to (6 meters away from) greet people from far away. This Pandemic turned our life upside down. I could not believe that my senior year would have been ruined just when we were about to graduate. I remember planning my senior year like a wedding. I wanted to attend my first school dance ( prom), but I did not. I wanted to wear my African fabric designed dress, but I did not. Most importantly, I wanted to walk on stage and hold my diploma, but did not. All this because of a Pandemic. Should I blame the Virus?
Photo from Google. A student holding a paper toilet written “Class of 2020”
We know that this is not the first virus to attack the world. We had a similar case in the past such as the influenza pandemic. At least with the coronavirus, the world has advanced with technology which is helping many doctors to find a cure for this virus. For this generation especially, who has never been quarantined because of a pandemic, we can consider this as a “Life War” virus. This pandemic is affected and keeps on affecting many people. Recording cases every single day and having cases in the hospital. I would not say that this virus has been worse for my family, than other people. The world is big, so many have been living in worse conditions. In a different part of the world, people live in total poverty and probably not surviving this situation. Covid-19 is a burden to people with low income, people who have medical problems, etc... In the Republic Democratic of Congo especially on the East side of the country, they just won a battle against Ebola, and not even a month, another virus comes to attack the world.
I’m showing this picture because it reflects on another side of the world. This is Google's picture from somewhere in Africa.
In March, when all the schools were closed, most school districts were hoping to reopen after one week, but unfortunately we ended up finishing school at home. As a UK student and what I have seen the UK doing, UK will probably go online and in-person for all its classes for the rest of this semester. Although we were all tested, there is nothing that assures students and parents that Covid-19 will end this year. The state, the school, and parents are trying to keep the students safe. Why I think UK Will be giving in-person and online classes is to limit the spread of the Virus. We still have cases here in Kentucky and around the US. The United States is farther away with cases than other countries. . We cannot compare cases from the US to a country like The DRC because they had few cases. I think the UK should prioritize the safety of all students just like Congo did. The DRC closed all schools in the country when they only had few cases. They almost announced a white year meaning that every student from all levels will have to repeat their classes. High School senior who was supposed to take their final exam/evaluation were sent back home and almost repeated their senior year. Their first and second exam was canceled, but now the Congolese minister of education had no choice, but to announce the exam since cases are not as before. In the case of the UK, continuing online programs will be safe for students because we have all the supplies and devices to help students.
University of Kentucky testing students. I was tested in the Kroger Field. So many students were tested here, and the UK did a good job keeping everyone safe.
These are my friends in the Democratic Republic Of Congo, who were able to do their exams, after spending their school year at home. Not all schools are reopening. Most schools will open only if everything goes back to normal.
Covid-19 has brought us to watch more news. Even for us who never watch it, we were so curious to know where the world was heading to. First, when this virus was not pandemic yet, I was hearing a lot of rumors. We thought it was not that serious. I remember that I was so happy a rumor circulating that we will probably take 2 days off so that the school can clean the building, but I never thought that was our last time in school especially as a senior. After the virus become a pandemic, I started watching the news on different French channels and sometimes CNN. I was more comfortable watching the news in French than in English and I think I trusted that channel because of their credibility in Europe. I did not read any article about this pandemic, but only checking social media. Back in my old towns, I saw videos of people running to buy supplies. My family and I thought that since it was becoming so serious, it was a good idea to stock foods.
Youtube: People are buying a bunch of toilet paper. This video shows the reality of 2020. How people were fighting for supplies and not just toilet paper.
We were late, it looks like the all-world thought it was an apocalypse. I remember going to Lexington Walmart and seeing no hand sanitizers. Toilet papers were not the only needed, but things such as water, hand sanitizers, and flour were needed. My dad heard at his work that the United States will be quarantined for 1 month. The next early morning, he went to buy food. All of us were shocked to see him shopping. We can say that it was his first time doing groceries.He usually does not go buy groceries. He came back home and told us that, hand sanitizers were unseen. So, he bought us so many soaps. We were required to wash our hands more than the amount of shower we take a day.
This empty shelf was taken by me. This is is how we can relate to how bad Corona was at the beginning.
I did not trust anybody because they were making the news worse. I would hear someone saying that the virus was fake and life will go back at a normal pace. I also heard a man predicting the return of a Jesus who will come not as a thief, but as a virus. So many fake versions of the virus were created during this pandemic. One night, my friend sent me a notice letter from the army saying that in a week, soldiers will come to disinfect streets and that we will have to stock food before they come. I told my parents and showed them the letter and they believed. People running and fighting over toilet papers and others. For a certain time, we could say that this virus almost brought people to conflict. Like mentioned, I'm from Africa and have family in different parts of Africa. My family and some of my friends were sometimes getting false informations. I was talking on the phone with one of my friends who were supposed to take his final exam and she asked me how much presidents Donald Trump gave each student? This is unbelievable. I started asking myself in which part of America, the president distributed money to students. I told my friend we did not receive anything besides works from school. Now let ask ourselves, where did my friend heard of that news? This did not cause conflicts between my friend and me, but it could have also put me in conflict with her.
One dangerous in the long run will be if one country finds a cure for Covid-19. The country will have pressure to publish his formula to test it. This has happened in Madagascar where a young Congolese doctor who found a herb drink to cure Covid-19, but was not approved by the OMS or WHO ( World Health Organization ). African heard that the first vaccine will be tested to them first. The African community was determined to find a cure for themselves and when Madagascar announced to have found the cure, only the African country was supportive of it. I think this could be a problem in the long run. The most dangerous in the long run will be not being able to find a vaccine. We will end up losing a lot of people. When Ebola breaks out in the East part of Congo, no one could have found a vaccine to cure it. When a vaccine will be found, the government will impose every student to take it. This will cause a problem for parents who do not want their kids to be vaccinated with vaccines from other country or their own country.
The COVID as alter not just me, but people’s relationship with food. Most of us are at home 24/7 and the only things we seem to do is eating and watching TV. When we were quarantined, people were not controlling their diet. For me, I will say yes. I was not controlling what I was eating and was eating anything, but eating a lot did not affect my weight. Another thing we experienced was appointments with doctors were canceled, we were obligated to hold an appointment on the phone and before going in the hospital you had to make a call just to let them know that you have arrived at the hospital. This year 2020 was a total drama. It taught us how to protect ourselves, how to wear a mask even if we are not sick, how to stop the spread of the virus, and how to be informed about what is happening in the world. Every one of us has something to say about this year and our good practice will slow corona for spreading.
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