Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Covid-infodemic fatigue


I’ve been wanting to read and write something not related to covid-19 but here we are – in lockdowns, curfews, voluntary quarantines, etc. to keep this virus of the size between 0.08 and 0.12 microns from entering our bodies but force us to enter the digital realm where it’s hard not to let in terabytes of covid information flood our consciousness.


I believe I have walked every street in Shmeisani and have mapped where every open grocery store is, not to mention which house I could rob of sprigs of creepers and other plants that I can easily transplant into this Airbnb’s garden spaces.

But I’m running out of garden dirt to dig and sow and I’ve run out of inspiration to write and draw. I’ve been checking my anger and latent depression over a withdrawal of a job that already had secure funding and for which I’ve put in so much energy learning and preparing for even without a contract while waiting for the visa to Yemen.

Mostly because I am a spouse of somebody and those who made the decision to withdraw their selection of me had a bitter experience with a wife who held the same role three years ago.

Who knows what happened then. But talk about disillusionment with decision-making processes in the humanitarian sector. I am the kind of person who will gladly accept personal loss for a common good but not this or in this manner.

But much of life, I think, is about getting over disappointments and losses and moving on, keeping an eye for things to improve and to celebrate.

Like that patch of dirt just outside of the gate of this Airbnb…

Seriously, I do still manage to summon the energy to keep myself abreast of conversations in the humanitarian sector like this ALNAP-led webinar I attended two days ago - Making aid work for people in crises. Questions of relevance that the humanitarian community has been talking about for years. Nothing new but it’s precisely that which make these topics important to open up again and again for discussion to explore and gain new insights as we cycle through similar crises but in different contexts and times.

So, yes, first, I need to be thankful for the abundance of information to work with and gather up the passion and the energy to contribute to solutions…

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