WORLD BANK GROUP: #YouthOnCOVID19= How Has #Covid19 Affected Me and My Country? How Can We Have A #Resilient Recovery?

How Covid-19 Affected Me

I have planned and prepared to go to the United States for my Master’s degree starting from this Fall 2020. I will start to study in August with a scholarship for two years. Unfortunately, the US embassy is still closed which means I cannot enter the US this year. This brings me to the issue of whether I take online courses or defer and take in-person classes. I am still trying to gather more information through the internet from my future university, embassy, and my sponsorship and adjust accordingly. Today I have already made numerous sacrifices including potentially joining my friend’s new start-up as a teacher. Additionally, looking for a job is more difficult during this current pandemic.

How Covid-19 Affected My Country

My country is one of the developing countries that confronts a higher struggle to fix pandemic problem. Covid-19 affects my country’s economy and it will affect many sectors such as technology, employment, healthcare, and society. In technology, because of study at home, there are no students who currently attend schools. On the other hand, technology is not evenly distributed to all regions in Indonesia. Not all students have reliable access to the internet for study at home. Hence, it makes students tend to waste their time by playing with their friends rather than study. Moreover, many employees have lost their jobs, and healthcare costs became high and complicated. In society, people were not allowed to attend mosque, church, or temple or any activities in large groups. Fortunately, for the current situation in my country, we face a “new normal” means that we can do all activities as long as we follow the protocol of Covid-19 even as the movement is slow.

How We Can Be Resilient

Let us make our faith stronger if we believe in it, stay safe and take care of our health. We have the opportunity to do any activities as long as it is based on protocol. Moreover, we must remain positive, and be prepared for any negativity in any sectors so that there are no complete shocks or reckless, impulsive policies, like some of the ill-advised policies we have already implemented in this pandemic, because we cannot predict what will happen next. Therefore, we must remain resilient to survive Covid-19.

Writer: Siti Fathimah

Reviewer: Charles Terry

PS: This is based on my point of view. If you have any ideas or advice, please comment below. Thank you!