Being an Essential worker during COVID-19
I never expected this was the way my second year at St. Thomas University was going to end. With online classes, social distancing and travel bans, COVID-19 has affected the world in ways we never imagined.
As an international student, I had to choose if it’s safer to go back home or stay in Fredericton, N.B. I didn’t have much of a choice, so I stayed. Canadian government decided to restrict traveling for internationals and with the United States also closing its borders, there wasn’t a way out.
Many countries aren’t taking the right precautions in order to stay safe. Nicaragua, where I’m from, is one of them. Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega, whom people assumed was dead because he wasn’t seen for over 40 days, has refused to take the right precautions like social distancing and closing down non-essential businesses. He claims the pandemic is a “sign of God” and continues to put his country at risk.
Nicaraguans were encouraged to keep working and participate in mass gatherings, especially pro-government marches. Some citizens, on the other hand, have taken it seriously and decided to self-quarantine.
Although I wish my family was here with me, the safest decision, was for me to stay. Nicaragua will always be my home, but it hasn’t been the safest place to live in since April 2018.
Most international students went home before the borders were closed. My situation was a bit different because of my job. As a home worker, my job is considered “essential” by the New Brunswick government. All my clients depend on home workers to make their lives easier since they have disabilities that prevent them from taking care of themselves. If we don’t take care of them, who will?
The company I work for, Kindred Home Care, sends emails every couple of days to update their workers about the situation. As caregivers, we must take extra precautions in order to keep our clients safe. Between shifts, we have to follow a series of steps as precautions such as changing clothes, washing our hands, keeping a distance between oneself and the client at all times and more. Every day we must answer an automatic call where Kindred makes sure that their workers are being safe. Safety is their number one priority at the moment.
My roommate, Carmen Sandigo, couldn’t go back home either. We work together as caregivers, not to mentions we’re raising a kitten named Luna. “I have to be extra careful in everything I do. I couldn’t live with myself if something happens to one of my clients because of me,” said Sandigo.
Since we’re both from Nicaragua, we both knew that our safest option was staying in Canada. “Our president isn’t taking the pandemic serious,” says Sandigo. “He claims that there’s only been one death and a few confirmed cases, but everybody knows that’s a lie. He’s acting like the pandemic is not a big deal, but it is.”
For us, Fredericton is our second home and thankfully I have a roommate and a cat to hang out with, so I don’t feel so alone. When we’re not working, we stay home and do our online courses and play with our cat. We try to social distance ourselves from everyone, wash our hands every chance we get and try to stay in our apartment. Since not only can we get sick at any moment, but if we get sick then one of our clients could get sick. Since most of our clients have disabilities, it could be fatal to them.
We miss our friends and going out, but sacrifices have to be made in order to keep everyone safe.
