An Egyptian pharmacist reflects on her work and home life, whilst in the throes of COVID-19

English transcript | نسخة عربية

Nationality: Egyptian
Occupation: Pharmacist
Date of interview: 5 August 2020
Language of interview: Arabic

Rana is a pharmacist, working in the private sector. She moved to Kuwait from Egypt almost nine years ago, with her husband, an engineer. They have a little boy and an eight-year old daughter. Rana feels that Kuwait is her home and as long as her parents could visit her, Rana felt happy to be here. But, now the visa laws have changed, and they cannot visit anymore, which is harder. Her daughter used to think that she was Kuwaiti because they celebrate all the Kuwaiti national festivals as a family.   

 During the lockdown and curfews, her daughter has been angry at being confined inside. She misses her school and her friends and playing outside in the neighborhood. Rana’s little boy had never seen the outside because of COVID. He only knows people through screens. When she was finally able to take him out, he was scared of people and the outdoors and could not walk-- he fell down. This makes her sad. Also, during the lockdown, Rana’s husband wasn’t working and it was hard. He was silent and depressed. His company had stopped his salary in February and only recently has begun giving him a quarter of his initial salary. Seven of his colleagues were laid off after COVID hit, so he had accepted not being paid in the hopes of keeping his job. Rana has been supporting the family on her income and working long days. Many of the people coming into her pharmacy cannot sleep, and are also depressed. Rana says it is not acceptable for her to show vulnerability because in her work she sees people with serious problems. Also at home, she cannot show she is stressed because she needs to lighten things for her husband and children in this difficult time. She tries to make them laugh to relieve the tension. She is at a loss as to how she will manage online school with both parents working. She already has a nanny which scares her, because the children might get exposed to COVID. 

Rana is happy living in Kuwait and thinks Kuwait’s government has done a great job of providing information, making sure food and medical supplies are not disrupted, providing care, and implementing lockdown and curfews early on. The problem is the people. She knows from customers that they are still gathering and not observing protocols. She thinks people should be allowed to return to work, because this situation is hurting them psychologically, but they must also change their behavior. Many customers think the virus isn’t real. Daily she sees many customers showing COVID symptoms who are trying to self-medicate and who are not wearing masks. She knows she is at risk of being exposed and cannot hug her children and must isolate as much as she can at home, afraid to infect them. She herself was in denial about the virus until recently-- she didn’t wear a mask and didn’t think it was serious. Now, she empathizes with maskless customers and gives them a free mask and explains why it is important to wear one. She tells people to go to the doctor. It’s not her job as a pharmacist to transgress her role, but many people are scared to go to the hospital and are trying to use the pharmacy like a clinic. 

Rana says that life during COVID has changed her. 

“Life before Corona is different from life after Corona, totally. I believe whoever understands this correctly it will make him a better person [...] it would make them look at material objects differently. Material things aren’t here to stay; they don’t support anyone. It also united people, the Corona crisis negated any differences between people. Whatever your nationality, you’re the same as the poorest one [...] Corona came and made all people the same irrespective of their nationalities, their religions, their class. Everyone became one and all of them were afraid of the same thing. There’s no difference between me and you, right? In Corona there’s no difference between me and you, you’re afraid for yourself and your children and I’m afraid for myself and my children.”

In the clip above, Rana reflects on her relationship with Kuwait, and how her family life was affected by the pandemic.

اقرأ القصة باللغة العربية