Realizing that I cannot change anything or am I able to Humbled in realizing that nothing can I control or am able to Grateful in realizing that I am, I can and am able to
Wasee Munim
Mississauge
CONFLICTING EFFECTS OF COVID
Wakeup calls plenty all down the line
Warnings for all to ‘rise up and shine’
The Pox, the Plague, the Flu and Sars
Now comes a biggy ……Covid to spar.
Changing society, it’s environs and norms
Creating new rules so difficult to conform
WEAR A MASK. DON’T MINGLE. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE it seems
Smacks of prudity and laws extreme.
These reforms have a backlash in the domestic scene
Dad is home though he’s not too keen.
The lawn is mowed, a light bulb changed
Dad stops ‘Is this me, or am I deranged?’
All in all, a delightful transformation
Indoors and out, a welcome confirmation
Of the more pleasant effects of this virus to date
Frustration at first, resentment; then, acceptance of fate.
Tabinda Vahidy
Senior resident, Oakville
It’s the end of the school year. We had goals, aspirations, resolutions, and vows that we made ourselves to fulfill. I know I had many. That being said, as students, we got to fulfill some of them, but who knew that the rest of our dreams for this year were to change. During March, we had hope of resuming back to our normal lives. April came along, and of course, we had to cope up with our challenging schedules and distance learning. We said to ourselves that this is temporary and that we will be back to our normal lives in an instant. To our surprise, it was May. Some of us lost some hope and some started making new goals. Through it all, we started re-discovering ourselves despite whatever was happening around us. Now it’s June and our hopes of going back to school for this year are gone. It’s funny how things turned out for the year of resolutions, right? There’s one thing though, this year is going to be etched in our memory forever. For the Class of 2020, the ones whom I’ve dedicated this tribute to, it’s a bittersweet moment. While staying away from the ones you’ve gone through this journey with, the pride of graduating is a unique experience. Just know that things will be alright. Just know that despite the times we’re living in, we, the Class of 2020, will be the cause of it changing for the better.
Niranjana Nambiar
A fifteen-year-old visual artist and writer from the Peel Region
This particular mask has a special story and it is very indicative of the value of friendships that have kept me going throughout covid. My next door neighbour in Oakville worked in a doctor’s office but she also has her own sewing company making customized baby comforters among other things. At the very beginning of covid when masks were not available to purchase she switched and started sewing masks for health care workers. Day in, day out she sewed as many as she could to help them out. She sewed hundreds and hundreds of them. On April 21, 2020 I moved to Burlington. I knew that my neighbours were thinking of moving so once I had emptied my boxes I asked if they wanted them for the move they were thinking of. They were delighted to have them and when I dropped them off as thanks she gave me one of the masks she had made. I thought it was a wonderful gesture and I especially appreciated it given the scarcity of masks at the time. This is the mask that I would like to pass on to you for your project. The designs have changed many times over during the pandemic but this one will always have a special memory attached to it.
Gail Smith
Oakville/Burlington
From suffocation to feeling safe… I don’t know when the mask changed what it was for me…it became a safety mask… very soon I realized I could hide behind it pretty well! I wore it to keep myself safe, safe from prying eyes, safe from a display of emotions, my safe hideout… I wore the mask to an interview and got the job… my confidence hiding behind it reflected in my body language; I stopped shying away from going out to meet people…. I realized I have been wanting to hide the real me for years… and the mask gave me the way… I am going to miss my friend the MASK when we will have to let it go…
(Anonymous)
Oakville
The pandemic has been challenging, but I’ve been amazed at how much it reveals our capacity to adapt. I think it’s made me more patient, focused and grateful. I feel a deeper connection to my family and close friends, and real respect for my children’s resilience. It has also highlighted how important physical experiences with art are for me – how much I gain from visiting galleries and being in front of artwork spatially in ways that digital experiences can’t really satisfy in the same way. It had been many years since I last painted anything myself, but I found making art again to be an extremely calming and gratifying way to cope with these changing times.
(Anonymous)
Oakville
Meditating Through The Waves
Walking along Lake Ontario during my regular walks in my neighbourhood, I do believe that I can see my emotions through waves (metaphorical and literal). Meditating Through The Waves — the need to ground me becomes paramount, especially when feelings of grief can appear suddenly and triggered unexpectedly. It has been hard for me to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic as I console myself over the sudden passing of my father in late 2019.
If there is one significant takeaway from this strange time, I would affirm how several minutes of daily silent meditation has eased my Panic Disorder. As I close my eyes and observe my breathing- I immediately notice how my shoulders fall back and my body loosens up. While international borders remain closed and human mobility feels constricted, I take solace in using meditation to help me value all things global and know that this too shall pass.
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth — the waves might continue to be unpredictable, but I am grateful for the strength in taking care of myself (and working on letting my woes escape me).
Writer’s Note: I give immense gratitude to my friend Hannah and Atlanta Contemporary (Georgia) for instilling meditation into my daily practice.
William Brereton
Toronto
June 8, 2021
I’m a mother of two girls. I’m also an artist. At the beginning of the pandemic I was planning a trip to exhibit in Chicago. I had just finished showing at the artist project on February 23 and was feeling optimistic. A few short weeks after our world shut down.
It’s been a year and a half since I have been apart from my children for longer than a few hours but my job as a mother is to be the architect of a joyful childhood. Being a mother to two very small children in a pandemic means digging even deeper while running on empty. This pandemic has caused major damage to my career and the careers of other working mothers that I know. I recently learned my family (parents, brother, sister in law) all don’t plan to get vaccinated. I don’t feel safe having them care for my children without them being vaccinated. I worry my girls are being robbed of childhood memories and relationships.
Rachael Speirs
Visual artist
Mississauga
I have to be honest in saying that although my last year during this lockdown hasn’t been enjoyable, the privilege and comfort of my life in Oakville has made it doable. I’ve kept a job that allowed me to work from home, had access to healthcare, and thankfully didn’t get sick. Though I haven’t seen any friends or family outside of my household, I can only reflect on how this year has really highlighted my privilege. It’s truthfully been the struggles of those outside of Oakville that have been the hardest. With a year of human rights crises on top of a pandemic, my concerns have been placed there. Sometimes being here in Oakville has made me feel helpless or restricted from helping others, but by joining forums, zoom calls, and even by sharing social media posts, I have found outlets that allow me to help others.
(Anonymous)
Oakville
A Daughter’s 2020 Agenda Notes +
March 20
Dad Call Sick Start
March 22
Afternoon
Check Test Dad
March – Region of Peel Call
March 25
101.3 afternoon
March 26
*38.5 (5:30pm) Dad
March 31
Morning Fever
April 1
Fever Dad
April 2
No Fever morning
Dad
106.6 (5pm)
April 3
AMBULANCE
April 4
Doctor T—
April 7
SPOKE TO DOCTOR
April 8
IS. 40
95/93
MOM (4:3_pm Time of Death)
April 13
*Negative Called
April 14th Tuesday
Dad / Doctor L—-
smaller lung volume
Deep breathe
Lung exercises
3 liters / 2 or 1 liters (AIR)
No new pneumonia
Memory okay
Positive (Day 23) will check
Wed. April 15 2020
Dr.L—-Wed.
O.T.
equipment for home
swabbed (positive) today
medicine: anything (not)
Oxg: 1-2 resting
still need oxygen
No new pneumonia Xray
2 chest ex
PSW support
Social worker Called Morning
April 16
Dr.L—
Spoke to Social worker
Dad a bit more
Confused weaker
20min Phone Call
Mother – Funeral and Cremation Choices
April 17 Friday
1 litter (day) 96% Oxygen Improving
Heart good
Lip’s dry
Swab: 2 (3 total)
Says he is feeling well
SUNDAY maybe no oxegan
Swab (SUNDAY or MONDAY)
Mental UP & DOWN Paranoid Dr.K— rude / not appropriate Behavior
Cognition – grieving process
determining – can be redirected
April 19th SUNDAY
2 days off oxygen (stable)
Swab? PSW
1 month – low rick,
Pubic Health
How Long
April 20
Swabbed*
April 21
9am home cleaning / Cleaning Done; The ladies worked from 9:15 am – 4:00 pm total 13.5 man hours. (2 maids). They cleaned the whole place, they removed 9 garbage bags of garbage (including garbage from the balcony). They washed sheets and put fresh sheets on the bed. They also washed towels and clothes. Clean folded clothes are in the laundry basket in the bedroom. Some clothes are still in the dryer as they were not dried by the time the ladies were done.They found one bank card and they put it in the desk drawer as requested, they also saw two wallets in the master bedroom. Wallets are on the dresser. The ladies noticed that there is water dripping under the sink in the kitchen, they put a bucket under the drip. To be checked (see C—l). They cleaned under the sinks in the bathrooms and in the kitchen and they cleaned some other kitchen cabinets inside.
April 22
10 minutes Walking
Eating / Feeling better
April 23rd
Called Dr.C—–
PSW. Shower (Risk)=
Doctor K— (Future)***
Put in Referral (PSW)
Self Referral LHIN (community care access) support for Daily Living
x4404 Ed. Nurse
2pm Dr.K—-
April 24
Miss. H—Local Health
905——-
LHIN
Meals on Wheels
April 30
Dad talk
Shaking of hand
May
What do think (Dad)
Your in charge I want you to be independent
May 20
Walk
Dad & Daughter
May 22
Walk Daughter + Grandson
May 24
Walk
Son-in-law + Dad
(Anonymous)
Mississauga
In these times, I have lost family, lost love, lost time, and lost myself. but with the help of my found family, I have learned to grow, I have found peace with myself, left an abusive household, found my own way, found love, found happiness. I would do all of the losing all over again to feel the same findings I was blessed with during this time. –
(Anonymous)
Ajax
Waiting to Exhale
In measured breaths
I count the days
In wary inhale
Of air and dust
What was once second nature,
A rhythmic in and out
Becomes a labour,
In ticking clocks
A roll of dice
When wayward wind
Or blemish untold
A doorknob, a rail, or sheet unfold
Could blow my way, that speck aloft
That arrested humanity in choking cough
So I adorn my face
With mask unyielding
Or submit to seclusion
Of guarded shielding
Let Earth take a breath
Free of Man’s smoking fumes
While he is clogged
By what his mistakes exhume
Discard old ways
Or pay the price
Free of greed and excessive vice
But he litters still
That saving grace
Of masks and gloves
And medical waste
The rhythm continues
In plastic pumps
Vents that fill, stunted lungs
Comes a labour
In ticking clocks
Of fractured dreams
There’s no waking from
I know your face
But not the colour of your eyes
The sound of your pain
But not the sound of your voice
In wearied breaths
I count the ways
Balanced on knife’s edge
Waiting to exhale
Words: Mehreen Hamdany
Birmingham UK
Drawing: Mahwish Hamdany
Oakville
In the early days of the pandemic and lockdown, it felt like everyone was returning to an almost primal way of living. People were scared – I know I was – and I thought if we were going towards a survival-of-the-fittest situation, I wasn’t going to make it! When daily life decisions boiled down to two options: “don’t do this thing that you used to do without giving it a second thought” … the other option was always “or get COVID” .. well, I guess it felt easier to give up things like eating out, going to the salon, going to the movies, meeting up with friends and co-workers, and a million other little things.
But eventually, life prevailed. In the void, I found strength in self-care, satisfaction in small accomplishments and inspiration in the resilience of others. I found the motivation to support small businesses, help neighbors and strangers, and stand with communities that were under attack.
Muneeba Khan
Michigan
While the visual image of a mask has created some distance and hidden our smiles, seeing all of us united in this effort and putting it on has brought us closer as humanity in our combined fight against this pandemic.
Ritesh Shah
Oakville
Unsettling, uninspired, sleepless.
Imprisoned, lonely walks, dreamless.
Longing, distant, afraid.
Nothing to say, nothing to do, nothing to prove.
Prayer beads.
Feeding ducks, strengthening ties, letting go.
Lake views, cityscape, gratitude.
Fearless, life affirming, running.
Needles, patience, embryo.
Heart beat.
Batul
Toronto
LOCKDOWN
Yes! today it can be clearly seen,
For us, what lockdown actually mean.
Which lockdown is our immense need,
We ourselves have to assess and see.
It’s not hiding behind the walls,
Not meeting people,
Nor rushing to the malls.
Remaining indifferent, to who may survive, or who may fall.
But!! It’s the lockdown of injustice and greed,
For worldly gains,
Our criminal speed.
It’s lockdown of shameful acts,
And lockdown of cruel and inhuman deeds.
It’s ceasing of pride for wealth and power,
And ending of countless selfish desires.
Lockdown of vulgarity in real life, and on screens,
To stop the coming generations,
Who also seem keen.
Lockdown of corruption through blocking its means,
To brighten our tomorrow with a fresh sunbeam.
Lockdown of ingratitude towards our Lord our Creator,
Prostration and His obedience,
For rewards much greater.
From Allah the superior,
This can be the final call,
For returning towards the expected path,
Before this Earth may fall.
So wakeup to lockdown your doors against evils,
And secure, when it may come your final travel.
Words by Baseerat Mohsin,
submitted by Zikia Shaffi
Mississauga
This was a time when covid had just struck Canada and people were still not used to wearing masks. My husband’s cousin’s dad had passed away in India. So we went to her house to convey our condolences. We were taken from outside to their backyard, since they didn’t want anyone inside their house. We sat there with her whole family. It was sad that we couldn’t even hug her because of Covid. Everyone had their masks on. I noticed there was a table which was filled with different sets of masks. When we were leaving, they gave us our set of masks, labeled with our names and size. She had made these beautiful masks herself, for each and every member of her whole family. Maybe this was her way of coping with grief, since she couldn’t go to India for her dad’s funeral. It’s been over 8 months now and we still use it because it is washable.
Ishrat Khan
Mississauga
Last year during the early days of the pandemic when masks and sanitizers were like gold and could not be found anywhere. So I asked a friend if I could buy one from her because she had a ‘stash’ as she was going through serious medical treatment. She said she will give the box to me for free. I still remember how we met up in a parking lot and she handed over the box to me covered in a bag. I felt like a criminal
I shared the masks with family. This is the last of that box.
Long story short…this mask is from a box of masks when masks could not be found anywhere and I felt like a queen when I got my hands on a whole box
Sobia Yaqoob
Mississauga
Social Distancing
हालात – ए- वाइरस
बहुत मिलना चाहते थे उनसे , पर ‘चाहने’ से अब कुछ नहीं होता
वो तो बैठे ही थे दूरियों की चाह में, कम्बखत इस वाइरस ने और दीवारें खड़ी कर दी
दूरिया यूँ ही कुछ कम तो ना थीं, हालत – ए- वाइरस ने और अपनी चाह हमपे थोप दी
सोचा था कि मिलके गिले शिकवे मिटा देंगे , और गिरती दीवारों को बचा लेंगे
पर क्या पता था की ‘लोकडाउन’ की तारीख़ दर तारीख़ में अपनी तारीख़ लग जाएगी
अब तो ना वो हैं , ना हम
कुछ बचा है तो चंद यादें और ‘दूरियां (सामाजिक)’ ।
– गुंजन शुक्ल ( टोरंटो
, कनाडा)
Translation:
Wanted to meet them a lot, but now nothing happens only the ‘wishing for’.
He was just waiting for these distances, this virus has built more walls. Already there were so many differences and above all this virus has imposed its wish upon us.
Thought it would erase the fallen holes, and save the falling walls. But the rolling date of lockdown called off my date with my beloved.
Now they are neither, nor are we! If there is anything left, few memories and ‘distances (social)’.
Gunjan Shukla
Scarborough
the quote “a smile is worth a thousand words” means so much more now that our smiles have been hidden for over a year.
Jaynika Oakville
Unexpected change. Isolation. Fear of the unknown. Loss of a loved one. Mourning, but stayed reasonably optimistic. Took one day at a time – some easy, some not so easy. But marched on, hoping for a better outcome. Staying very aware of the privileges I have been afforded and trying to do my part to improve upon the design.
Sunny Dudeja
Brampton
My COVID Experience
I have been talking about my COVID experience with my family, friends and co-workers, but never thought I would share it with the world.
It all started on Jan 8th, 2021 when my son-in-law was tested positive for COVID. He immediately isolated himself completely. My daughter and I took the COVID test. However, my daughter tested Positive and I was Negative. In spite of me being negative, I soon started having symptoms such as cough, headache, chills, night sweat and fever. The cough got worse and I started having chest pains. I called my doctor first and she advised me to immediately go to the hospital. I was in the emergency for 9 hours. They took a COVID test again but sent me home saying to keep monitoring my pulse and come back if there is shortness of breath.
Next day I found out that I tested ‘POSITIVE’ for the virus. My condition soon started to deteriorate with fever, diarrhea, body ache, shortness of breath and extreme weakness. In 3 days my oxygen level dropped to 82 (normal range is 96 to 99) and I couldn’t breathe. My daughter had to call 911 because I didn’t have the strength to walk.
I was in the ICU ward, where they were monitoring my heart, oxygen level and giving IV fluids. After 4 days they moved me to the COVID Ward because now apart from me having the virus, I also had pneumonia. I was also being given blood thinner injections as a preventive measure to stop blood clotting.
Those were the worst 10 days of my life. Apart from these injections, I was going through a series of tests, CT scans, MRI, x-rays, nuclear tests etc. I was in constant pain. I could hardly turn or move without pain. I was getting weaker and weaker. The sad part was that I was dealing with this ordeal and battling this virus without loved ones by my side.
The very feeling, if you are going to wake up tomorrow or how are you going to get through this was a life changing experience for me.
All I could do was pray. Finally after 14 days the doctor said I could go home. I was so happy, so relieved that I will get to see my family again.
It felt so good to be home and to be alive and to be among my family.
I am eternally grateful to my friends and relatives who were extremely supportive during my recovery from this virus.
After coming home, it took me a while to recover. I chose to limit myself from media and spent more time praying. In fact this illness brought me closer to Allah & made me more compassionate.
Zakia Shaffi
Mississauga
During the pandemic, a few things changed for me as an educator…and as educators do, I came up with some innovative ways to work around it…whenever my kids would look towards me for a hug during hard to handle “big” emotions, here’s what I would say:
“Sorry buddy, we won’t hug because of “the disease” , but we can do a high 5 in the sky instead!”
This would usually have them smiling and I would get a big nod of understanding…
It was both a proud and humbling experience to be at the frontline.
Hope you find this helpful.
Faridah Irfan
Oakville
When my husband and I decided to leave everything behind to move to Canada and start a new chapter in life, we didn’t know we would soon be expecting a tiny human. Less than a month before flying out, in August 2019 we discovered about this blessing and we were ecstatic.
The excitement of expecting a baby and having family flying in for the BIG day kept us motivated during the initial period of struggle in Canada. Little did we know that not just ours, but the entire world’s planning would come crashing down. Covid completely threw us off! We couldn’t decide what was greater, the fear of getting infected in this condition (as my husband couldn’t work from home) or the disappointment that none of our parents would be joining us to celebrate this milestone and help us in the initial postpartum phase.
Our baby came in to this world on the 14th of April 2020, in to a world which is nothing like what it used to be and a world we had never imagined we would have to raise our baby in, a world where sanitizer was more valuable than water, masks were more important than clothes and social interaction meant having a mere session on zoom.
He turned 1 two months ago and things still aren’t very different. In fact, they’re worse in many ways. He still hasn’t seen kids playing in park. He has no idea what a restaurant or a mall looks like. He has not been able to interact with other kids.
Is there light at the end of this tunnel? Will my son ever see the world we lived in before the pandemic? Nobody knows!
Savera Dar Munim
Chatham
Being a frontline worker the pandemic brought obvious and hidden challenges for me. Every morning without any hesitation, I would mask up, glove up and be ready to face any challenge the day had for us at the hospital. Felt a bit vulnerable on the way not knowing how much PPE we had today or if the hand sanitizer would be enough. Walking past the sign that said “Heroes work here”, it felt good. There was no question, no doubt, why we would do this.
The end of the work day was a completely different story. Nothing felt enough. I felt weak, exposed, fearful and even guilty. I was petrified every evening not knowing what I would bring home to my two little kids and wife. Praying that the mask and the sanitizer was protection enough. I would hesitate getting out of my car in the garage. Avoiding hugging, touching or even coming close to my kids till I had changed and showered. Even then there was fear. Hoping that the few millimeters of 3 ply non woven fabric I had on my face all day was enough.
15 months later I know it was.
Dr. Talal Khan
Grand Rapids
Lockdown and the feelings of being cooped up at home were difficult to adjust to in the beginning! Its not that I am a very party or going out person but the thing that really depressed me was that staying at home was not a matter of choice – it was compulsory in order to avoid the deadly virus!
Then came the rituals of disinfecting the grocery even the cash that was returned! SOPs SOPs made me angry and frustrated – when will the vicious circle end. Long wait but with time people got used to living with masks, sanitizers and social distancing all became the DOs of our times!
Positives also happened – Mother Nature took time to breathe and replinish itself!
Overall its a whole new experience for the entire world with many precious lives lost and lessons learnt!
Ayesha Attique
Islamabad_Pakistan
The pandemic experience has been a shared traumatic experience with no end in sight – until maybe this summer. For me, it has been a journey of shared personal experience bound together with others. A common purpose of mental and physical survival was our destination. A good experience? Some days… but mostly it was about holding on tight together. Together we tried forgetting about the outside world to a large extent. We focused on the immediate… what was going on in that very hour, on our street, in our local communities and the organizations we supported.
Distraction and looking away from the horrible – the covid deaths that ravaged so many in a “too young” , “old and isolated” , “can’t visit and hold the dying hands” sort of way. We will never forget these images.
The unifying nature of the pandemic was a tiger in a cage. Yes beauty in the sense of a shared community experience but a dreadful and ferocious beast not to be let loose. Do not tempt the covid tiger with not wearing a mask, washing your hands, wiping off every item bought in the store. The tiger will find you. I do not like even typing this as it confirms the reality of what we all knew and now know.
There are still deeply personal stories of loss, too deep to share not unlike the veterans of past world wars – they did not speak of the atrocities that they have witnessed. For all of us it has been horrible. The deep loss and unspeakable grief will remain in our deepest soul where it can be safely guarded – like the tiger in the cage.
(Anonymous)
Oakville
Time during the pandemic has allowed me to reconnect with painting and the resilience of nature. It’s become a form of meditation, calming the body & focusing the mind on energies just below the surface of the subject.
Image title: Portrait of Ben
Sherry LaFayette
Vancouver
The pandemic which has taken over the world has affected all of us in different ways.
The stay at home, self imposed isolation has renewed and given a deeper appreciation of what we previously took for granted and has given us time for some soul searching.
The situation has a profound effect on our social life. Our interaction with people and family shapes our thoughts and feelings, gives us hope, sense of comfort and love, so missing out on family and friends leaves an emptiness and some sorrow for the loved ones lost.
Working from home which was initially welcomed is actually making you work more and eventually exhausted.
Home learning will see promising students giving up, as merit is lost somewhere.
The pandemic has granted us the time to rethink what is more important to us and how much of the worldly goods does one need.
It has been a strange experience, things are still uncertain as to how long will we be in this situation. The certainty that every dark night is followed by a bright day, keeps us looking forward to normality.
Shaheen Khan
Oakville
Corona was the trigger which connected me to my love. I probably did not realize the intensity of my feelings……until my love tested COVID positive. I n the weeks of emotional agony that followed, I knew clearly where I stood.
(Anonymous)
Oakville
The Journey Of A Thousand Masks
You might have heard the fashion changes over the decades. Since covid hit we went through our own mask fashion evolution over the span of just a year and a half.
In the beginning when masks were a rare commodity, we lined up and grabbed what we could get our hands on. From the scary looking N95’s to the ones that made us resemble alien life forms we wanted anything and everything. Gradually acceptance settled in and we realized that masks were here to stay, so we too evolved with the masks. Gone were the cold impersonable masks. We may have lost our smiles behind them but we gained color, patterns and texture. A mask to match our outfit. A mask to make us giggle. One to show support and another to empowered us.
Because that is human nature. Ever evolving, ever adaptable and ever positive. The ability to make the best out of the worst and to make it work. Long live humanity and its instinct to survive.
Muneezah Jawad
Oakville
It was stressful trying to follow the guidelines and the changing science, balancing it with whatever supplies we had. Each day merged into weeks and then months. I recall the shortages of PPE, even though we were in the US, it was real thing. Seems a distant past now but some weeks we wore plastic bags over our clothes instead of surgical gowns. Relyed on donations for hand sanitizers and face shields. Handmade cloth masks were all we had one week. I recall wearing the same coveted N-95 everyday for three and a half weeks, covered by surgical mask, to make it last longer. Protecting it in a brown bag when not in use.
Those couple of months seemed like they would never end or that we will always remember.. but what makes us resilient as a race is that we forget. With the surplus of supplies and vaccinations in us what we endured last year, now, that time doesn’t even feel real. But it was real.. and I do hope we can remember how we worked together and survived, protected by something as flimsy as paper, our masks.
Dr. Talal Khan
Grand Rapids
This colorful mask, now as much of an essential accessory as the handbag it gets carried in, was hand-made for me by a Latina woman living in Michigan who is now a friend. For me, it’s a symbol of the good that’s come out of this pandemic. It is about the human spirit being capable of creating beauty and looking for it in the midst of ugliness, of resilience and grit to provide for your family, and the human need to connect with another and support them.
Muneeba Khan
Michigan
Anam Liaqat
Oakville
Saadia Hussain
Lahore, Pakistan
Farzana Tunio
Karachi
For me pandemic was a space where I explored my creativity and growth at so many levels. Learnt to cook and bake better . Strict exercise and yes started learning to stitch clothes and handcraft, basically revisiting what I enjoyed as a young women in 20s .
Whatever time, what matters is what you make out of it .
Deeba Khan
Scarborough
It is July 2021, well over a year since the very first lockdown we experienced here in Canada in March 2020. I find it strange to write about it now, because it seems like it was a dream. The first wave had an intensity of feelings that washed over our home and our family. There was a fluster and flurry of buying supplies, rushing to stock up, and a slight excitement of the unknown. Schools and work closed and it was like a big adventure, we looked forward to being home and seeing what would happen. The roads, the skies and the cities went quiet. We stayed home and consumed hours of TV, social media and news reports.
As time passed these feelings were coupled with other emotions some of us have buried and forgotten – the confusion, fear, anger, worry, panic. Tears. Trying to work at home, trying to be at school at home. Adapting to stay fit at home, trying new hobbies and resuming old ones that we’d forgotten about. Cancelled plans. No friends. No family. Feeling safe and thankful that we had a house with space and a garden outside. Horror on every channel, death, panic, tired eyes behind the plastic face shields. Terrified and terribly sick people spilling into hospital corridors – full of a virus that was overwhelming them. Not a one of them had their family with them. Alone, with a stranger holding their hand.
We read, heard, watched. Death, fear, numbers, numbers, numbers. Exhausted workers out there while we stayed safe at home. We all swayed to and fro, up and down, constantly unsure and unsettled. But we were safe and for that I was grateful.
Today I have Hope as we have all worked hard to get this far. Soon we will be able to see our family again, and hug them. I have Hope.
Rachel Williams
Toronto
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