Emotional Welfare at Amatelaz

Oni spoke to about 21 children at Amatelaz Homework Centre, regarding their mental and emotional welfare during this Covid-19 lock down.

Oni says…We divided them into two groups for a 40 minute session per group. We observed social distancing and some of the kids were wearing face masks and some just used doeks or scarves. For those with doeks and scarves we gave them washable masks that were made/sewn by Wendy. We gave about ten face masks.

The children said the home situation has changed, some were saying it’s boring, some said there is too much violence in the homes maybe because we were not used to spending time together.

Regarding not being able to work, they said this has lots of impact. Those who rely on buying and selling in the streets can no longer do that and were caught unawares. That means their financial source has been affected big time. Some companies still closed and that means that is also affecting the financial side of it.

That leads to lots of changes in the households. For example we used to eat twice a day and that changes to once a day. Those who used to eat three times a day can now not afford that and can for now eat twice a day. The number of people in the households has also changed. Some have increased, especially those who have family members who went away to work or look for work. They are now back home because there is no work out there anymore. Some said even the landlords are now not wanting a big family at the house and they will tell you to ask some of your family to move away. Their reason being social distancing, and the more people you have the greater chance you have of contracting Covid-19.

The moving of the vegetable market has also made life so difficult for them since people are now travelling long distances to go and buy vegetables. Those who are selling are now charging exorbitant money because there is no more market competition. One other thing at first people use to sell from as early as 6am to 5pm and now you are only allowed to sell for three hours, from 6am up to 9am. Sometimes you come back without selling anything because of limited time. Lots of people learnt to do vegetable gardens at their places but most of it is being stolen by thieves because people are hungry, according to them.

The law enforcement issues are also affecting them because even if your relative from a different location gets sick it's now difficult to go and visit them. We can't even study with our friends because of the law enforcement.

Generally as I was speaking to the children and listening to them, it seems this had a huge negative impact to them as well.

Compiled by
Oni Mususa.