A second Christmas in COVID and wishes for the season
This is the second year of celebrating Christmas during the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), which caused many lives to be disrupted. Some have lost their jobs due to their workplaces being closed or downsized.
We spoke to a few people who shared what their Christmas wish would be and whether the pandemic has affected them.
director,
“The Covid-19 has not affected my business. In fact, I got more business during this time. I host birthdays, weddings and other events and I do photoshoots in my garden. People prefer the outdoor space. They don’t want to do their events indoors anymore. However, my Christmas wish would be for the Covid to go away. While my business is benefiting, I want this pandemic to end because in other areas of life you’re restricted. I can’t get to do the things I would like to do. Besides, I’ve had close people that died from it. My husband’s nephew and his brotherin-law died right here in Guyana from it. A former resident from my village (Den Amstel), who was living in
America died during the early stages of Covid. That was really hard because she used to help a lot of people and she was instrumental in getting a lot of work done in the village. She would get donations and send down to make the village better. Right now my granddaughter in England has Covid. So where Covid is concerned, I am well aware of how deadly it is and I take all my precautions. I wish also for my business to continue to be successful.”
Mina Persaud, market vendor,
“My wish is to have a nice Christmas and for the business in the market to be bright. We hardly making money at the market. It is very slow because people don’t have money to shop. They are out of jobs. Right now I have two sons who are out of jobs. They were doing carpentry but right now they are not getting work. They were at home but they started going some days in the bush (interior) to look for work. They have families to mind and I have to help them out because I don’t want to see them punish. It’s really hard for me. All of the goods raise at the shops and we’re just working to pay the bills. The pandemic affecting me a lot. You have to wear mask to go all over and you can’t go out as you like. I don’t like to wear the mask because I am asthmatic and it makes me stifle. I get the blowing and shortness of breath but I know I still have to wear the mask to protect myself. My Christmas wish is also to see this sick (Covid-19) go away and everything come back normal for everyone.”
Adolphus Rogers, vendor/Medical doctor,
“My Christmas wish is not only for Guyana, but for the world to have a solution to the Covid19 pandemic and for the lives of everyone to be comfortable and everything returns to normalcy. My wish also is to see the cost of living decrease and that everyone, in spite of class, can sustain themselves. Covid has affected me in a whole lot of ways. One, it increased my workload in my profession and number two, it has an effect on the market sales as well. It is a bit slow. This is due to a low production of labour, which caused an increase in price for a commodity. I also think that as much as the grants are being offered for Covid and for the flood relief, that the entrepreneurs should receive some sort of assistance because even if you are buying produce, you still have to pay a high price. As much as they [government] can compensate those other categories, they should look at the young entrepreneurs.”