Page 22 - INTRA MUROS December 2020

TODAY’S CHILD

A virus made us stop and pay

attention

By Nicoleen Davies, Director of Life Talk Forum

he year of 2020, a reflection on a families in disadvantaged communities We were ‘gifted’ each other.
tumultuous year that will possibly go suffered greatly, animal shelters and other Upon reflection, I wonder if people saw
Tdown in history as a turning point for support structures were nearly destroyed, the blessings within in the drama. A virus
humanity. Everything changed as a virus people stuck in abusive relationships made us all stop.
turned the world upside down. It changed were trapped with their abusers during
the way we live, the way we interact and lockdown, and abuse was commonplace. Lockdown gave us time with our families
socialise, the way the world goes about to reconnect; time without deadlines or
its daily business. Wars stopped as we all It was tough. But from every hardship more important things to do. We had time
stayed home and governments changed there also comes growth and learning. to play and talk and do things together, to
their focus to save their people. Some people realised they are stronger tidy our homes and clean them ourselves
and more resilient than they ever thought and yes, to bake. Everyone must have been
The impact was profound – financially possible. Others realised that working and baking because shop shelves were empty
and economically, on families and friends. learning at home is not that bad, you get of ingredients!
No one was left untouched. We have all to skip the traffic and the rushing; and, you
heard heart-breaking stories of a parent or can be highly effective. Most parents aren’t used to being on duty
loved one with dementia losing their last 24/7... being a teacher, a playmate, a parent
memory of their family during lockdown, So we can choose to focus on the negative without a break; but, in retrospect, when
or of elderly parents or single people being impact but maybe we also have much to could we ever have had the opportunity
depressed from the isolation. Children and be grateful for? to spend every moment with the ones we

20 INTRA MUROS DECEMBER 2020