31 March 2020

Tuesday · Day 5 of lockdown

The South African Government announced that it would launch a mass testing initiative, which would include health workers going door to door in some communities to monitor the prevalence of Covid-19. Opposition parties called for the army to act within the law at all times amidst reports of brutality and the use of excessive violence from members of the SANDF. Hand washing and sanitisers became the focus of attention in the fight against the virus as various organisations, health workers and famous people produced videos on how to wash hands properly. A chemical firm in the UK built a hand sanitiser production plant in ten days which had the capacity to produce up to one million pocket-sized bottles a month.

Today started extraordinarily. I woke up with my family at 6:00 am to exercise. For the first time in our family’s history we exercised together! I was helping my dad with certain exercise and my sister was helping my mom. We then all went to go enjoy breakfast together and I started with a diet (the banting diet). After breakfast we all went our separate ways. I logged onto my PlayStation account and played online games with my friends. They all feel just as trapped as I do within the confines [of their] respective homes.

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Lockdown continues. I have resumed my university studies. I went through some of my summaries and continued to add to them. I really want to be dedicated to studies as I think the country needs hard workers to get it out of the mess it is in and I want to be a part of that […] but it can feel sort of pointless to work during this time as there is no certainty or finality regarding when this whole situation will be over. I think everyone is going to come out chubby and hairy after this ordeal.

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As I mentioned yesterday, this whole lockdown is getting more and more depressing with each day that passes. I miss my friends and the student life we had in Stellenbosch. Being locked inside doesn’t feel natural and I am very bored. My siblings are getting more annoying now that we see each other every single day and can’t get away from the house for some privacy. Additionally, I feel very tired the whole time. I sleep more than I normally do, but somehow, I don’t feel fit during the day to do much. I take every chance I get to help with chores or cooking. The more things I can do the less bored I am and the quicker the day passes. It’s sad to think in this way. Counting days until everything goes back to normal. Now I regret missing out on plans I cancelled before the lockdown, and I appreciate the times we were able to go outside and see our friends and attend lectures.

* * *

Today I committed two criminal offences – I went for a swim and I walked my dog. Saying that feels incredibly weird because these are two very ordinary activities! I recognise that it was not the best idea, but I have become incredibly restless and I am craving interactions with nature. I find myself staring with binoculars, looking at Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, and Signal Hill. Usually, I swim at the beach (on average) three or four times a week. When I’m at home, it’s closer to five or six times. Not being able to get out into the ocean is really impacting my psyche, as pathetic as that sounds. In the grander scheme, this is a really nice problem to have; I am incredibly privileged that I am not worrying about food, water or safety.

* * *

I felt extremely unmotivated and a bit lacklustre yesterday. I managed to go for a run every day (fortunately we have a treadmill in our house), which I am very grateful for. Not getting enough exercise and not being able to move around really does contribute to feelings of frustration and hopelessness – I can hardly imagine what someone sitting in alone in a small apartment must feel like during times like these.

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I began my day by waking up to the gentle sounds of rain. The rain brings a sense of calmness; it feels as if it is washing away the stress and anxiety I have felt for the past few days. Today I started working out trying to keep my view and mind from clouding. The mood in the house seems to have calmed down a bit. I made some breakfast for my family today, started to catch up on a bit of work and worked on one of my assignments. […] All in all, it was a productive day.

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One of the positive things that has come out of this lockdown for me is the fact that I have more time to strengthen my relationship with God and spend more time with Him. I’ve really enjoyed being able to extend my quiet time. I think that’s also kept me really calm throughout the whole situation. I’m not saying the virus isn’t a scary thing, of course it is. It’s completely unfamiliar and we’ve never dealt with something like this before, but I have faith in God, and I think that has just given me a lot of peace during this time.

* * *

Today I woke up at around 7:00 am and ate a breakfast of All Bran. I then had to go to campus with my iPad for internet access since the internet coverage in my apartment block is not good. I went and stood outside the mathematical sciences building where there is good Wi-Fi and downloaded the work I needed to. I then went to Pick n Pay to buy some fried chicken. […] In the evening I watched some of the history documentaries that I had downloaded earlier.

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Today I spoke to one of my closest friends via Facetime. She is one of my biggest inspirations – one of those people who have an endless capacity to give. She inspires me and challenges me intellectually. We love thinking together and sharing interesting thoughts, and today’s conversation was no different. The ultimate conclusion to our discussion can be summarised as follows: development is caused by the imminence of problems that arise around us and the eagerness to solve them.

Most people deal with the problems directly facing them at a given point in time. Fewer people identify potential problems and put plans in place to conquer them in the future – these are our innovators. It is our belief that, in order to slow down the speed at which our problems come crashing down on our world, and in order to minimise the effect of these boulders, we need to inspire more innovators!

It all starts with education. Education should not be reflected by how many degrees the average person in a country has. Rather it should be seen as how many people can read in order to gain knowledge, create ideas, develop existing ideas into even better ones and how many people can translate these ideas into actions. I believe that this concept is more relevant than ever before where we all are now sitting in our own corners of the world topping over life and how to make it better.