I’m a professional and mother of two adult children. My eldest, a daughter, has two sons aged eight and six, and we live in one household as a close-knit, happy family.  We all got the virus and still experience lingering side-effects.

Covid-19 has affected my finances, and I now have to take care of both my children and two grandchildren. My daughter worked in South Africa. She returned home last December as her company couldn’t continue operating with their full complement of staff. 

At a macro-level here in Botswana, there is no salary increment this year because of the pandemic. Living costs are higher than ever before. 

I became closer to God than ever before. He worked wonders when I thought everything shut down on me during our quarantine period as a family. We had the full support of fellow members of the church. We lacked nothing. Our recovery was swift because of the psycho-social, emotional and spiritual support they drenched us in. God showed us He is the greatest healer. In Him there is no fear at all. His word encouraged me; it showed that I can conquer everything if I depend and rely on Him. His grace is sufficient and we never go to bed hungry.

The past year has shown me that God is in control. He can bring the entire world to a standstill. It was a year like none before. It showed me that “life is meaningless” as Ecclesiastes 2:11. We toil so much and yet we can’t even control the air we breathe. The biggest lesson is that I can only survive if I include God in my life–if I depend on and surrender all to Him."