Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Thursday 30th July, 2020 "Aye come down, come down.. me ah come around" the woman cheerfully calls out to me from the road two houses away. I am on the back step landing, and I get ready to comply. She is on her mostly weekly visit, day before the holiday weekend though to collect her dues. She has lung problems, asthma - "but big hospital nah look after me, one tall bai like you pay 3,500 fuh me go a Eureka' .  65 this year, so she collects pension - 'me had to spend am pun daktah' Son with a disability, uncertain housing, grand children whose father killed their mother, she walks, begs, 'wan wan people give me a wuk'.. always asks for extra for various reasons. I am afraid that she will get Covid, that she will get robbed of her pension, that she will get kicked out of her house and have nowhere to go. I am afraid that I can't do anything for her except give her money every week. Same day as she comes, soon after. 'Uncle uncle'.. the po...

Photo by Meshach Pierre by Meshach Pierre, Rae Wiltshire and Vidyaratha Kissoon Are you excited by the chaos of Covid and the tensions of Elections? Are you feeling the thrill of the Court battles and the daily racial posts on social media ? Are you looking forward to the COVID apocalypse? Then this blog is not for you. Instead, this blog is for those of us who feel that the double whammy of a still-ongoing elections crisis and a global pandemic is a bit much to deal with all at once, and being inside all the time is making us go a bit stir-crazy. Mental health and COVID 19 The below resources provide some tips on protecting mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak: UNICEF - How teenagers can protect their mental health during COVID 19 Lifeline Australia - Mental Health and well being during the COVID 19 outbreak CDC (for those of you who do not think the USA is an enemy of Guyana ) Manage anxiety and stress WHO has lots of advice, including: How to cope with ...

Body pain Morning after the first case of Coronavirus is reported in Guyana and my body feels stiff all over and moving is difficult. Throat is dry and I cough and I think of where I have been, who I have sat next to. I wanted to make a post about the Coronavirus thing now makes Elections 2020 Guyana more stressful, and a snide comment about how gatherings to celebrate or protest the projected results from GECOM are not going to be healthy. I drink the diclofenac tablet. I don't want to, but I don't want to keep feeling stiff. I do the chores, bending and stretching, but it is funny how the body moves but the pain and stiffness remain. It is all in my head and soul I know, the thing I frighten about this virus is not about me getting sick, but about me passing it on to other people especially the elderly person I interact with daily. Buying water, touching elbows  I see  a car passing and a man is wearing a face mask. Bus comes up, and one passenger has the mas...