“I know that lockdown protects us from coronavirus. What worries me is that elderly people of my age are not allowed to go out even for brief periods. During this lockdown I feel like I am an item in a suitcase or box. I don’t see the outside. Staying indoors is stressing me.

I start thinking of the times I was free to go outside whenever I felt like having a walk or go to the shops to buy milk, bread or my favourite drink.

It is painful to be indoors morning, afternoon and night. This experience has shown me that life can change in a flash. I think that it is time to have a relationship with our Creator because I believe that He is the only one who can change our situation for the better.

I miss my great granddaughter. I can’t see her even though she is so near me. I don’t know when I will see her. This is painful. I want her to know that I love her very much and I miss her but there is nothing I can do. I am helpless.

I think of the folk songs and stories I used to teach her, like Tsuro woye, Tsuro woye, Tsuro woye Njarikunjanja and Tambarare Hiyayi.”

Anonymous, Great grandmother