We understand that the Covid-19 is an overwhelming period for everyone and it has temporarily put a standstill for all our get-together group activities, which has played a huge role in the lives of so many.
However, we are in this together and committed to supporting each other and keep working to ensure that our families, friends, as well as the Society, remain motivated and connected during the unprecedented time.

Zahra Abdul Malik- the club Chairperson, has been conducting herself bravely & successfully, by maintaining a balance between her professional and family life. Taking care of her family has been her priority. She has also been writing on various subjects, for the Garden Club. Cooking healthy food and comforting her family and friends in all possible ways, has remained her top agenda. Although she regrets missing the birthday parties of her grandchildren, she keeps connected virtually with her family via video calls. She is proud of remaining calm, positive & in touch with everyone.

Our Vice-Chairperson, Tahera Jaberi believes that this is a testing time for us and this little virus, invisible to the naked eye, teaches us innumerable lessons. It may be considered a reminder that life is unpredictable, it is time to marshal our will power and abilities.
For her, staying at home has been a pleasure, as she can spend maximum time with her family. She indeed misses her weekend gatherings with friends and family, but she has replaced this communication with telephone and video calls. Besides her routine work, she keeps herself physically active, takes online classes, and strives to learn new things from home. The crisis gave her a pause to evaluate her life, to arrange her priorities, and to be more thoughtful and empathetic towards everyone.

For the Club Treasurer- Irina Averinos, self-isolation time got her to explore her hidden talents, apart from her professional expertise in Art & Painting. To keep herself busy, she tried hands at sewing. She completed her ‘red heart project' that she had commenced 10 years ago.
She made some fabric postcards with appliqué work and machine embroidery for her friends. When her garden was in bloom during spring, she collected various flowers and leaves and tried two different types of eco-friendly fabric dyeing techniques with the garden collection. She intends to use these techniques for sewing fabric shopping bags instead of using plastic bags.
She also tried to master her art of baking a variety of bread types, low salt ferment pickle, and cheese making without any ferments and healthy jams to boost the immunity of her family. All these activities made her feel better and kept her occupied during this difficult time of the pandemic. 

Asya Rashdan, the club Website Coordinator, has been spending her time during the pandemic, encouraging her children to make good use of their time by staying occupied in their hobbies & learning new things, exercising, eating well to stay healthy and positive. She has also turned one of her rooms into a home gym. While cooking, house chores, and reading, has kept her busy all along, she has also dedicated her time to sew masks for charity donations. 

For our very socially active, club Program Coordinator- Thuraya Al Mansoori, accepting this pandemic was not easy at first, but later she took it as a challenge and faced it fearlessly. The fun-loving & highly creative Thuraya, being at home, and finding the spare time now, started following her hobbies such as doll-making, quilting, paper origami, to keep her away from any negative thoughts. Not only has she created lovely handicrafts, but also loved to share the pictures of her work at various stages of making, with family and friends. The appreciation from them, made her happy and she kept inspiring everyone with her positivity. She also did a lot of indoor plant propagation. She has learned many new recipes and worked towards efficient home organizing. She believes life is uncertain, yet very beautiful. And it is the faith in Almighty, the Value and love of her family and cherishing the simplest of the moments in life, keeps her going. 

Dr. Nilofer Jahromi, the Club Executive Secretary, also working at the Ministry of Education, has kept herself very occupied, along with her colleagues, facilitating the newly adapted Online Education system for students across the country. She has remained involved in a number of electronic programs.  While at home, she has been enjoying spending all her time with family, trying Italian & Indian recipes. Baking, gardening, and making chutneys from her homegrown mangoes, have been her favorite activities. She has also been thrilled to share the pictures of her dishes and her recipes with friends. According to her, it has not been easy to manage multitasking her home and office work. But at the same time, doing so allows her to remain very optimistic during the pandemic. 

Yes, like everyone, my life has also been turned upside down by the pandemic outbreak. “Social Distancing” is suddenly a word that I hear very often. And trepidation and ambiguity being so rampant, falling into a pit of sadness, maybe likely for many of us. I realized, while it may be difficult to control my feelings at all times, shifting my attention more towards those aspects of life that I can fairly control, can help me restore my self -confidence. To begin with, I tried to take control over basics such as my daily routine, what I eat, my workout & sleep. And I kept adding more to it. To my surprise, the list kept getting pretty long.  Being a Landscape professional, working under pandemic constraints, has been quite challenging. Yet, it has also imparted me, an opportunity to upgrade my skills, and thereby improve my efficiency.

Indeed, there are instances when I tend to get agitated, scared, and worried. It is at these times, I realize the need for taking a break and spending time with my daughter. I get involved in activities that we both love to do together, and that helps me calm down. I keep reminding myself that people are still working very hard to make things better. 

Let us stay positive, motivated & hopeful; cause there will be a time when we will all get back to normal again.

Nishrin Kothambawala
Media and Fundraising Coordinator