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When corona virus was first announced in China, my first thought was that it was going to be like ‘Ebola an African disease’ – so Corona will be a ‘white people thing’. Forgive my racist statement, but I know it was in most black people’s minds that Corona will not affect them, which was quite a relief I must say, especially for those of us living in African countries, we have had our share of diseases and 'interesting leaders.'
Ok, now back to me- I can talk about mother Africa for long. I had travelled to the UK for work and was now returning to Nairobi, Kenya. Shit had just gotten real with Kenya announcing some COVID-19 cases. The government had issued a compulsory 14 day self-quarantine rule for all international travelers coming into the country; which, I obeyed not only to protect my loved ones and the community at large, but also to avoid getting arrested and taken into forced quarantine in a government facility which you had to pay for. I must admit I was quite worried because my neighbor in the plane kept on trying to suppress his cough to no success probably because “coughing without a valid reason during this pandemic is almost a “crime” and by valid reason I mean being choked by a seen irritant affecting majority. Well for this guy, just to give him the benefit of doubt, the irritant could have been the silent farts released periodically by an uncouth passenger.
Upon completion of my two weeks quarantine without any symptoms, I got the green light from GOK-MOH. I was relieved that I could finally leave the house, plus I was dreading getting corona because of the stigma surrounding it, and worse off, you get buried like a dog within 24hrs, which sounds more of disposing a body than burying. - Needless to say, according to my tribe’s tradition, one has to be given a befitting send off and a burial is usually held after a minimum of 2 weeks. So this burying at 2am, 24hrs maximum type of situation didn’t fit well with me.
It reached a time I got tired of being cooped up...I tried getting into fitness but gave up after the first day and opted to drown anything and everything edible. I tried re-learning how to play the keyboard, but the furthest I could go was “twinkle little star”. There was definitely no twinkle in my star, and therefore when my aunty called to ask why none of us (us in reference to myself and my siblings) was home with mum, ‘my parents leave in a different county from where we work, i.e. an 8 hr drive’, her exact words, “ mbona mnaacha mum kwa hiyo nyumba pekee yake?’ I knew it was the ultimate cue to go home, since my work place was flexible and could always work from whichever place. So I checked for available flights, booked to leave in two days’ time and informed my sisters of my departure. I packed a few clothes, my camera and work laptop and prepared for departure.
JKIA has never been so empty, flights were only domestic flights- Guess people were running to their “safe havens”. The only domestic flights were from the capital city to either Kisumu or Mombasa. Seated at the window by myself, I couldn't help but think to myself if I could probably be asymptomatic with COVID-19 and end up infecting my parents who fall in the “at risk” category because of their age....closing my eyes, just as the plane lifted off, I said a prayer and these thoughts faded as we approached a similarly disserted Kisumu International Airport.
I never unpacked my bags knowing that coronavirus will end soon enough for my lazy self to not pack again when travelling back to Nairobi. Guess Rona had her own plans, (just a passing thought, why are disasters feminine like Hurricane Katrina...?), she never wanted me to live from my bag. It has been 2 months since I left Nairobi with borders in and out of Nairobi have been closed. Seems I’ll be staying in the lake side for some time, which is not that bad as this is my home ground, it can just get quite boring at times. It is good being around my folks though, as they say “Home is always the best!”
I closed my laptop after finishing to type this short story.
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