My kids SHOULD stay indoors, but people from the village don’t care.
Mussa Uwitonze, July 2020
The first time I heard of coronavirus it was still in China. I thought it cannot reach Rwanda, but it did. I congratulate Rwanda’s Ministry of Health for reacting right away to prevent the spread of the virus.
Everyone was practicing all the advice given, including washing hands regularly, social distancing and more importantly staying home. But in my village I rarely saw people following rules and that scared me a lot. I thought that my kids are at risk because when they’re not at school they always follow our housemaid out of the house into the busy market to go shopping.
To protect ourselves I bought hand sanitizers, reminded my family to wash their hands often, bought face masks and gloves for all of us, and we stayed home. My kids couldn’t go to school because school was closed and that made me happy because I could see the whole family safe together! My kids started missing going out, once I saw them looking under our brown gate bending to look outside; I opened the gate wide so they could see for a short while what is going on and they were extremely happy. My role as a father, and head of family, is to prioritise their health, safety, education and well-being. I warned everyone at home that the best way to fight the coronavirus is first of all staying home and make hygiene the number one priority. My kids got it right: up early, brushing their teeth, reading books, doing their homework and watching cartoons!
As a photojournalist, it is obviously tricky for me now to get work from NGOs or from photo editors. But I am happy that I at least have time to spend with my family and be able to document our daily life. It’s fun spending time with them. Family is core part of our lives.
