How Filipinos Are Coping with COVID-19, Part 2: Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France
/Here is Part Two of the Series on “How Filipinos Are Coping with Covid 19,” featuring Filipinos from Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland.
The pandemic has hit Europe in different ways. Italy and Spain were ravaged, while Germany and Switzerland contained the pandemic relatively well. Why Germany and Switzerland may have fared better is addressed by Lia Feraren and Tina Borja Heiter in their reports below.
Germany
Lia Feraren
Lia Feraren (46) was born and raised in Manila and Cebu. Now a naturalized German citizen, she works in Munich as a trauma therapist.
Last March 13, she voluntarily closed her private practice because of so much uncertainty “and I did not know how to keep myself or my clients safe.” Because she had not been asked to close her business, she was ineligible for government assistance (3,000-8,000 euros for small businesses). She has since reopened her practice, but she maintains 2.5 meters between herself and her client; after 50 minutes into the session, she pauses to open windows.
Lia is a single mother of two daughters (13 and 8) who are home-schooled. The younger one, a gymnast, meets with her coach and team members online. Lia insists that her children stay home except when Lia does her weekly shopping and she leaves the girls at the nearby English Garden while she shops. Lia prefers cooking at home but has three trusted take-out restaurants. She prefers buying necessities from stores that are open, although she wonders how they will acquire new clothes and shoes when “I definitely don’t want to try clothes on in a store.”
Lia misses her children being able to see their friends. She misses visiting families in other countries. “It saddens me that I don’t know when I’ll be able to be home (Philippines).”
While she felt anxious at the beginning of the pandemic, she feels more informed now and credits the German government for doing a “pretty awesome job.” Angela Merkel and the rest of the German government are guided by leading epidemiologists like Dr. Drosten, Lia points out. She says she feels quite secure and grateful. “I know this is not the same in many other countries.”
Switzerland
Tina Borja Heiter
The artist Tina Borja Heiter and her husband, Andy, were vacationing in their second home in Palm Desert, California when the pandemic exploded. Because of travel bans, they were unable to return to Zurich until May 15, 2020. Upon arrival, they went into a self-imposed isolation at home.
Having experienced the pandemic in the US and Switzerland, Tina provides an interesting view. She says the situation in Switzerland is managed better than in the US. She pointed out how very confusing the information coming from the White House, government officials, health institutions, and other agencies were, prompting different reactions. Some obeyed the guidelines, others ignored them.
In Switzerland, the national and local government, the health institutions and media have one voice and people follow safety restriction guidelines uniformly. Tina believes this is why the situation in Switzerland is contained even though the country had a bad start.
Tina says the saddest part of this pandemic is being unable to be with family and friends. She cites how heart-wrenching it is when Covid patients have to die alone.
Spain
Manny Gonzalez
Businessman Manny Gonzalez had to close his five-star resort, Plantation Bay in Mactan, Philippines, a major move that he had to monitor from his flat in Barcelona where he got stuck because of travel bans. While he worries some, he says he is fortunate in having a financial cushion. Ever an entrepreneur, he has expanded his hotel-resort’s services to include assisted living for retirees.
In Barcelona, he goes out only for necessities. He doesn’t order takeout food but does order online. He is in touch with co-workers and friends via email and social media. He watches CNN and old TV shows. His regiment includes a soup-and-sandwich lunch, cocktails at 5 p.m. “sharp, either a Manhattan or a premium frozen gin with two crushed olives.”
He misses free travel within the Schengen Zone. He tells all to take responsibility for their own safety, practice thoughtfulness and courtesy to others. He points out how slow Western governments have been to adopt the use of face masks, a practice used in East Asian countries even before this pandemic. They are acting irrationally, he says. “Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan have already demonstrated how to manage Covid-19 without lockdowns, just with masks, distancing and public cooperation,” he says.
Teresita Franco Barte and her husband, Javier, shelter in their home in Madrid, Spain, with their dog. A retired businesswoman, Teresita let her housekeeper go; even her children and grandchildren do not enter the house. They visit the garden, and Teresita and her husband converse with them from the balcony. Teresita orders groceries online, which are left in the garden. She disinfects everything.
Teresita Franco Barte and her husband Javier talking with their daughter who is in the garden
She misses her daily shopping trips and meals with family and friends. “When can we be normal again? Why did this happen?” she asks. She is waiting for a miracle to end this pandemic.
France
Reine Marie Melville (right) and her daughter
The writer Reine Marie Melvin (The Betrayed, Ateneo de Manila University Press) is sheltering in Paris with her daughter, who returned to France from her studies in London just before the March 16 lockdown.
For Bonnie, the pandemic has provided an opportunity to be close to her loved ones, and she describes a relatively pleasant life. She does the shopping; she prepares meals on “our tiny balcony overlooking the gardens of Montmartre.” Aside from daily exercise at home, Bonnie takes walks around the “quiet streets of Montmartre” where the flowers and trees are coming back to life in the springtime. “I spend hours every day working on a new book, reading, exercising and procrastinating.” She spends hours “reading, studying and … thinking,” she says.
Bonnie also sees her boyfriend regularly. “Sometimes my boyfriend will pick me up on his motorcycle at the end of the afternoon, and we’ll have wine and dinner in his beautiful garden, just outside Paris, amid the roses and honeysuckle and wisteria.”
But it has not all been easy.
In March, Bonnie’s other daughter, the latter’s partner and their baby, got the virus and Bonnie said, “It was a worrisome time for about two weeks.” Fortunately, they got well.
Another setback was that a lot of her editing work was canceled during the lockdown and her revenues took a hit in March, April and May. The government provided financial assistance which helped her and others.
Bonnie made some comments about the situation in Paris that concerned me:
In grocery stores, many don’t follow the one-meter distancing nor do they wear face masks;
Since May 11, Paris streets are busy and noisy again … The weather is beautiful, and my neighborhood is full of young (and not so young) people drinking from plastic cups and hanging out on the sidewalks or on the stairs of Montmartre, no social distancing measures discernible.”
My children, close friends, boyfriend and boyfriend’s children all see their own friends, so there are more and more risks of exposure, even with all the hand-washing and masks and physical distance we can muster. It begins to feel like Russian roulette.”
Bonnie sometimes feels anxious about the future. She has trouble sleeping. She says she was happier during lockdown and is having a bit of end-of-lockdown blues. She has had to cancel travel plans to Manila and San Francisco; but otherwise, she doesn’t miss very much “as I’ve stayed close to those dearest to me … and I’ve also had lots of time alone, which I love.”
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is a writer, editor, publisher and now a dabbler in art. Her official website is https://ceciliabrainard.com. She urges her readers to continue to protect themselves from coronavirus even while countries are opening up.
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