Lutgard Musiime

Dear 2020

We stepped into your mane very hopeful, enthusiastic, joyful and ready for a ride. No not an all smooth one but one that was filled with better challenges and experiences that we had never had before. We developed a catch phrase to make this relation-ship even more exciting. We baptized you twene twene, and you felt like no other year before. You cooperated really well and despite the fact that there was a looming highly infectious virus in the far west continents, it did not feel such a threat and we knew we had this twene twene thing figured out. It was not until the third month that you gave up the fight and decided to bow to this infectious virus that we came to understand was named Corona Virus a.k.a COVID19. We are told it came by plane through Dubai and it took just a few weeks before everything could change.

Everything for a moment went stand still. The country was locked down and we were told to stay in our houses lest this monster finds you loitering and grabs you. Of course, we obeyed because one we had no idea what this thing was and seeing how it had devoured our fellow humans in other countries, on one risked. Only the essential of essentials were left to risk to operate. Only basic need service providers could surface and only for a short time. Nothing was spared not even schools or churches. The government boosted of having everything in control as long as everyone stayed indoors as much as possible, washed their hands with water and soap or sanitized and covered half their face with a mask that is the nose and mouth.

A lot from that moment changed tremendously and drastically. For the first time people were united to fight one common enemy, COVID19. Parents, children, employers, employees all had to learn to cope and very fast to this confusing reality. Suddenly everyone was fighting to grab a seat on the technology table. Trading, church, entertainment all had to go online. Internet services providers minted the harvest as most of the remaining businesses grappled to stay afloat. Many employers suffered with the decision to have to let go of their staff indefinitely as downsizing was the only way they were going to weather this storm. As the months passed, the government realized that its people had to find a way of co exsiting with this monster and just maybe if its people were disciplined enough, they would survive. Many of the sectors that had been closed were open up, people we let out of their ‘safe heavens’, numbers of those being devoured by the virus lost count and many deaths were recorded.

The country had to prepare for elections that were to be due in 2021 and this monster was not about to stop it for any reason. People gathered in hundreds, sometimes following the SOPs but most times not, many were apprehended, sadly others lost their lives for being on the wrong side of the law or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time or even in the right place at the wrong time. Blood was shed, blame was tossed here and there but life had to move forward and twene twene had to go. In the wake of all these adversities one could ignore the good that was floating around.

The biggest wave of marriages probably happened in this time. Allover a sudden it felt like everyone was on a flying horse to the altar. If everything should go wrong, atleast one thing should get right. Also, the fact that there was a cap on the number of people who could attend these functions, it sounded economically viable and everyone wanted to use this window before it closed.

I can imagine each of us here has a happy story however messed the year may have looked. What is your story?