The Brokenness of Quarantine
By Kristina Cernei, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
On the 8th of March, women around the world celebrate International Women’s Day, and on this day, men offer gifts, and there’s such a saying: “ It’s the day when women can say and do anything, it is their right.” It’s a day when we are reminded in my country what we are to men. I celebrated the day this year by attending an event on gender equality, organized by local NGOs, the Sweden Embassy, and UN Women. It was an event attended mostly by women. The next week, my students organized a great party where the young men congratulated their classmates, the young ladies, and we had much fun.
However, on Wednesday March 11, we all got the announcement that Moldova is going on quarantine, and we all had to stay at home and teach from home. A wave of confusion, despair, and impotence came over us. All of a sudden, I found myself isolated at home, with no proper equipment for delivering lessons online, and fear of contamination while going to the store to buy food.
As a wife, I got overwhelmed with house work, my job as a teacher became an endless well of energy consumption, and as a mother, I found myself drowning in helping out with homework, educating my children’s attitude, and creating a positive environment for my family.
Though sounding simple, all my time has been devoured by chores and work. And I couldn’t find and still cannot find time for myself. There is no time to read a good book. There is no time to reflect upon my dreams. And all of a sudden, all that makes me happy has become forbidden in isolation, as quarantine breaks freedom.
The feeling of selfishness has also been overwhelming. While every single day new victims of COVID-19 are announced, people die and families feel desperate about not being able to bury their loved ones. Flights from all around the world started bringing our people home, whilst the government accused them of bringing the virus to their families. Chaos, confusion, accusations, and political decisions made at night make my inner world totally insignificant, in the face of these major problems.
Quarantine creates monsters. There is a feeling of numbness in the feet and hands because the routine breaks creative spirits, and brings monsters to life. I saw a piece of news on TV–a sadist amputated a dog’s feet, and the dog was walking on the bones. This news struck me with its cruelty and lack of empathy. Inside the walls, the human mind breaks the rules of sanity. Quarantine isolation is not all about the families spending time together, cooking and posting smiling pictures on social networks. It is a time when monsters have their freedom to punish, to destroy, to expose their cruelty to those around them.
From the 11th of March onwards people in my country have witnessed family members killing each other, domestic violence grow to its highest possible levels, cruelty to animals to its utmost disgrace. Easter proved a lack of social responsibility and the influence of religion on a country where reason can be easily overcome with belief. Informational chaos has created opportunities for the skeptics to consider themselves immune to the virus.
And while witnessing the confusion, as a woman, a mother, and a wife, I have to find the strength to move forward and fight for equality, engage in activities to promote media literacy, donate time and money for social causes, and learn new skills for personal development.