COVID-19 Christine Manganas : Faire le choix du confinement

Là-bas en terre australienne, les écoles accueillent toujours les enfants. Notamment ceux du personnel soignant qui n’a pas le loisir de rester à la maison en cette période de crise liée à la pandémie. Sauf pour les boutiques d’approvisionnement, bars, cafés, restaurants, complexes sportifs et autres ont dû cesser temporairement leurs activités. Christine Manganas, qui a la chance d’opérer en télétravail, a fait le choix de garder ses quatre enfants à la maison pour leur éviter tout risque de contamination. Elle raconte…

«My name is Christine Manganas, born Sénèque. I moved to Australia in 1999 and I currently live in Sydney with my husband, whom I married 19 years ago, and my four children aged 16, 14, 4 and 1.

Being an independent social marketer specialised in selling supplements as part of a gut health and weight loss program, I am lucky to be able to work from home. All my work is done online from either a computer, iPad or my phone.

When I think of my little island, I feel really sad for my family, friends and all my fellow Mauritians having to be in complete confinement. Although we still haven’t gone in total lockdown in Australia, which will happen sooner or later, we have been asked by our government to stay home if possible, to slow down the spread of Covid-19. So last Monday, we decided that we would keep our children home to protect them from getting contaminated as we heard of confirmed cases in the region. Since then we remain home except to go grocery shopping occasionally and we do take all the necessary precautions when we go out.

It has only been a few days and it has been challenging! We made the choice to stay home for our health and that of others, we do it as a sign of respect to all those who don’t have the choice and have to go work for us. For those who risk their lives on the frontline, those who work to keep our country functioning...

Although the teachers have sent some work for the children, it has been very hard to keep my two youngest occupied and entertained. So we’ve had to improvise and search the Internet for fun activities to do together. We’re lucky to have a decent sized yard so outdoor activities like hide & seek and “tag” are my daughter’s favourite and this gives us the opportunity to exercise as well.

Indoors activities after schoolwork include some baking together. We also make playdough from scratch and we also do some science experiments using mainly ingredients from the kitchen. We play board games and do quite a lot of singing and dancing while YouTube is blaring on the television set! It’s a lot of fun but it can be quite exhausting, so I can only just imagine how hard it must be for all of you in Mauritius and I pray to God for strength and patience for all of you.

In moments like these, when fear comes knocking and uncertainty for our future creeps into our mind, I believe it’s important to try and stay positive. The coping mechanism we use here is to fill our lives with love, care, kindness, joy and compassion for others. I believe that if we flood our lives with positivity, this takes over fear and doubt. Also, being Christians, prayer is our refuge. Faith will see us through these troubling times... My mother passed away from cancer 13 years ago and one of her favourite quotes, which is now a favourite of mine, says: “God never said that the journey would be easy but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.” (Max Lucado)

Things will get better eventually but for now, please stay strong and positive. Do the right thing for everyone. Stay indoors with your loved ones and help stop the spread.»