Red Cross Red Crescent magazine 
So close, yet so far
Clairet Mata is in a new country raising her son on her own. She says learning how to manage her feelings has been an important way of dealing with separation from her family.
Reporting and production:
Malcolm Lucard
Videography:
Thibault Lauritzen
Prolonged drought, locust infestations, bouts of severe flooding and conflict have ravaged food supply chains in many parts of Africa. With COVID-19 closing key shipping ports, grounding most air transport and shuttering markets, many African households could face an existential choice: die of Covid-19 or die of hunger?
The IFRC’s Michael Charles says the choice doesn’t have to be that stark. We can protect people from COVID-19 while also providing cash and food assistance, boosting local food production and better balancing the risks of COVID-19 with the many other worries facing African families. “COVID-19 cannot be seen only through the lens of its immediate health consequences,” he says. “It’s impacting every part of life, from the availability of basic food supplies, to people’s ability to earn the income they need to buy what food is available.”
Clairet Mata is in a new country raising her son on her own. She says learning how to manage her feelings has been an important way of dealing with separation from her family.
Migrants and refugees know what it means to be cut off from society, and from their loved ones and cultures far away. At a time defined by separation, let’s listen to what they have to say about coping and connecting in the age of Covid-19.
A tale of two migrants, finding their way under the looming cloud of Covid-19 in a world where they are considered ‘illegal’ – cut off from friends, family and basic social benefits.
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