On Monday night the world changed forever.
At least for South Africans it did.
From Thursday at midnight the country goes into 21 days of lock down (you are still allowed outside all day on Thursday for anyone who found that confusing).
Watching Ramaphosa deliver his speech was for me a proud moment to be a South African.
While first world countries are still umming and ahhing about what to do as their number of positive cases continue to climb, Ramaphosa has taken decisive action. He is leading us well.
Nine months from now there are going to be a lot of babies born.
That said, for upper and middle income South Africans this is hard but doable.
I saw a meme tonight along the lines of: “Your grandparents were asked to go to war. You are being asked to sit on a couch. You can do this.”
We will read books, exercise in our living rooms, phone our loved ones and still be able to go grocery shopping for our daily needs.
The people I am concerned about are those who live hand to mouth.
From the waiters who have already been laid off by restaurant closures to the people who are out looking for piecemeal work daily and have little mouths to feed at home.
Already the NGOs have been mobilising to provide daily meals for children left in the lurch by the extended closure of schools.
But I hope government will classify them as essential services because these children cannot be left to fend for themselves for three weeks.
During this time the Orphan Fund is asking that when you go shopping, instead of panic buying and hoarding, that you spare a thought for those with nothing.
You can EFT the fund using the bank details provided on page 5.
Once we have confirmation on whether these NGOs are allowed to continue to operate during the 21-day lock down we will be able to formulate a plan to reach those in desperate need.
On Sunday we had church in our home in front of the TV, which was a new experience, one I will likely do a few more times before this is all over.
The prohibition on gatherings larger than 100 people forced many local churches to go digital, with Sunday services being broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live.
While some churches do this every week, for most local churches this was a new experience.
You would think that this would be a lonely exercise but it was quite the contrary, with church members commenting on the live video and my phone was in a constant state of vibration as loud “Amens” were shared on WhatsApp to encourage the preacher.
This Sunday, I expect to hear from our pastor live from inside his home.
If you do not already have a local church it would be easy enough to find one on Facebook to tune into while on lock down.
As you go into lock down this week don’t worry about grocery shopping.
The stops will stay open.
Rather choose to take with you peace instead of anxiety, and kindness instead of frustration and it will be a memorable experience for all the right reasons.
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