A repatriated student reflects on family dynamics and the state of the country

English transcript | نسخة عربية

Nationality: Kuwaiti
Occupation: Student
Date of interview: 15 July 2020
Language of interview: Arabic

Ahmad is twenty-years old and has been studying in California for the past two years. He was repatriated in May as part of the governmental initiative to bring back all Kuwaiti citizens stranded abroad. He was hesitant to return at first – he was afraid of the flight back, afraid of potentially infecting the 13 people that make up his household (his family, his brother’s family, the maids and the driver). When he finally did make it home, nothing was normal. Both his father and brother are frontline workers and were in self-isolation, and so was he. “Our interactions were really strange... Approximately three quarters of our household couldn't even see each other. So, I mean, everything was really, really strange. I could be standing in front of my mother and I'm looking her in the eyes but I can't even go up to her and greet her. It's all so, so wrong, like.. everything that's happening is just so wrong”.

Ahmad spends his days on the phone or the computer, catching up with his friends during the day and doing his online classes at night. He also goes out to exercise daily, and feels that plays a big role in helping him keep his sanity. His neighborhood, Jaber Al Ali, has one of the highest infection rates in Kuwait, which surprises him since he doesn’t see anyone breaking the rules. But he thinks it might have something to do with the nightly Diwaniyas, and the fact that for some communities in Kuwait, culture and traditions are so important that they may be taking precedence over health concerns.  

He hasn’t had much interaction with his neighbors since he’s been back, but says that at the beginning of the crisis, they would check-in with each other to see if anyone needed anything from the grocery store. He is frustrated by all the rumors and misinformation flying around on social media, and spends a lot of time fact-checking. He finds he has become much more cautious, and thinks this experience will affect the way a lot of people think about personal hygiene or assess risk in the long-term. He is frustrated by all the corruption scandals that have been coming to the surface, but is also glad that they cannot be ignored any longer. “What I want is to hopefully, God willing, hopefully for those people not to get away with it just because this culprit is named so-and-so […] No, because that can cause a catastrophe in our country”. He hopes for greater accountability, and for a country “where everyone is treated the same, whomever they are”.

In the clip above, Ahmad S. recalls his journey back to Kuwait after being repatriated from the U.S. and how his neighborhood of Jaber Ali was impacted.

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