A Child of War, Talks Quarantine

The Faces of Quarantine-One Virus Many Faces: Giscard El Khoury

Honestly, I don’t feel negative or worrisome. I was born and raised in a war-torn country, Lebanon. As a child, we were always on lockdown, food was scarce, and the sounds of bombs exploding all over. We played and collected pieces of bombs that had exploded and were lying around and we felt no danger at that time. The difference now is the absence of bomb shelling, and frankly, it is way safer too.

I have now migrated to Canada, and love this country I call my home. Canadians have been great in dealing with the pandemic. They are following the WHO guidelines and federal & provincial advice, which brings a sense of comfort to me. I feel like I finally belong to a country that cares about me and it’s residents. As a government, Canada is implementing thorough screening, sharing guidelines with citizens, and doing a great job at keeping us informed of what’s going on.

It was bizarre that what actually stressed out Canadians, calmed me down. In Canada, some provinces decided to build checkpoints at their borders. Here I was driving with my boyfriend from Ontario to New Brunswick when we had to pass by three police checkpoints. During those checkings, I actually felt at home because this is how I grew up. In my native country, Lebanon…