How the lockdown affected my personal life and my education? – Essay by Emma
This pandemic has affected our lifes and paused Ugandan students, me inclusive.
My name is Mfitundinda Emmanuel MUHIIRWA. I am currently studying Cartography at the Entebbe institute of survey and land management. In October 2021 I started my first semester.
In May 2021 we started experiencing a second wave of the pandemic. In response to that our president Museveni put Uganda under a sweeping lockdown that included shuttering of nearly all businesses, closure of schools and halting of traffic.
For me this was a nightmare. My plan was to graduate whithin two years and than go for a bachelor in surveing. I wanted to start working and earn some money on my onw as soon as possible. As a young person I was excited to start my „university life“. I hoped to enjoy being a student. I was looking forward to this new chapter of my life. Instead learning at vthe university abd having fun with friends I was closed at home. My dearms were put on hold.
This lockdown seems to not be so long as the previous one. In 2020 the lockdown lasted for over ten months. Starting from March 2020 und until January 2021 we were not allowed to leave our houses. This second lockdown was declared to last only 42 days. Finaly on the 22th of September the markets, universitys, churches and some institutions were reopened.
During the lockdown I have had enough time to refocus and consider how my life should be. I have thought about a lot of matters. For example: what is my place in the society, what kind of qualities in a friend am I searching for, how do I want to spend my time in generally. I have fonud some answers to those questions and now I know what is important to me.
Also I am having a lot of time with my brothers and sisters in Smile home. It has been fun being together during this whole time. We’ve got to know more about each other, even about our weaknessen. And we still love each other.
I would like to thank to all sponsors who raise money for us kids in Uganda. Because of your giving our lives are lightened up, our hopes are answered.
Dankeschön,
viele Grüße,
Emma