Learning to reclaim our humanity

ON A daily basis death knocks on our doorsteps,snatching away our loved ones under the shadow of a raging pandemic.

Our sense of remoteness is intensified by a pall of unease we cannot define.We empathise with all families,because we all share that fear of losing someone we love.

We know how dreadful it is to even imagine such loss and how we go through our loved lives imagining ourselves far from such tragedy and yet it strikes so close to home, and so often.

The ongoing pandemic has turned our lives inside out. It has rebooted our existence as we knew it.

It has coerced mankind into a cowering huddle.

All of us are huddled behind the protection of the four walls of our homes.

There is no roadmap.We are facing situations that we never expected,or wanted to have.

The death of a loved one is a life-altering event, often triggering depression,anxiety and posttraumatic stress.

Working through the grief process is difficult whenever we lose someone close to us.This pandemic has had a profound impact on all aspects of human life.

This unprecedented medical catastrophe will be etched in our memory for generations to come. We as a species turn to our creator in a supplication for divine mercy in these calamitous times.

The trauma of seeing a loved one slip away gasping for breath while struggling to hold on to life and wanting to live is a burden too heavy to carry. The fateful years of 2020 and 2021 have brought unimaginable change to the way we live, and the way we die.

The dying die alone and the survivors grieve in solitude.

Sadly, Covid-19 has turned death into the loneliest journey of the shared human experience. Many underestimated the destructive force of the third wave.

We watch the ebb and flow of it’s attacks and often react tragically.

In our complacency, we lowered our guard and have paid the price.

The challenge now is to learn how to reaffirm our humanity and community as we come to terms with the mortality that defines, unites and ultimately engulfs us all. FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni