How life has changed since arrival of Covid-19 crisis

You hold your traditional bride price ceremony in early March and are confident that your church wedding scheduled for April 10 (Good Friday) is unstoppable. Then Covid-19 happens.

At first, the government closes schools, shuts churches and mosques, and much later, it bars citizens from entering or leaving some key regions. What next?

Ancent Musee Mutua and his fiancée Zipporah Wambui, both aged 25, were at the receiving end of that state of affairs and have had to make many decisions on their feet.

At first when social gatherings were banned, they agreed that the wedding would be held at their church in Nairobi with only 10 people in attendance — parents from both sides, the pastor, the best couple, a photographer and themselves.

Ten was to be a minuscule portion of the 400 initially scheduled to attend the wedding from the time preparations started in June 2019.

It appeared like a great plan until Monday, when President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that no person would be allowed to enter or leave the Nairobi metropolis from 7pm that day.

COUPLE UNDETERRED

The bride’s parents live in Kajiado, the groom’s in Kitui. It meant there is no way the parents could travel to Nairobi for the wedding. So, which way next?

“Parents from both sides have decided that the wedding should go on, and that we will abide by the government’s directives on preventing the spread of Covid-19. Both sides have given consent,” Paul Mutua, the groom’s father, told Lifestyle.

Ancent, the groom, said the wedding had deliberately been planned for Good Friday to enable his friends who live abroad to travel in.

It was also scheduled for a Friday so as not to interfere with Easter travel plans for those who were to attend.

When he spoke to Lifestyle on Thursday, he was determined to go on with the wedding that would only have him, his fiancée, the pastor and the cameraman in church.

“In our minds, we don’t get any less of a marriage because we don’t have people in attendance. We think the Biblical guidelines are clear and we’ve followed all of them,” said Ancent.

“My fiancée and I are Christians. We always look at this as something that God has allowed to happen and something that works for our good.”

They had held their ruracio, the traditional dowry payment ceremony, as per the Kikuyu traditions of the bride in early March.

“The first (coronavirus) case was announced on the week when our ruracio was scheduled. So it went on as normal,” Ancent said.

DIFFERENT EASTER

The groom’s parents said they look forward to a wedding party that will be held when things normalise.

“I would have wished to be there, but now that the situation is not allowing, I have no problem. I’m happy; I wish them well,” said the groom’s mother, Carolyne Mutua.

“We’ll have a party later after things normalise. Parents from both sides have agreed,” said the father, a freelance journalist.

The toned-down wedding is just one of the many things traditionally associated with the Easter weekend that have had to be remodelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ordinarily, the Easter weekend has been a mini-holiday, given the two-day holidays attached to the weekend.

But this one has been “a time like no other time in our memory”, as stated by Deputy President William Ruto in his press address on Thursday.

Ruto further told Christians to consider the symbolism of this year’s muted Easter weekend.

“This year’s Easter is going to be drastically different in many significant ways. But there’s a message that remains the same: after the trial, sorrow and gloom that comes with the crucifixion of Christ on Friday, there is assured hope that rises with the resurrection on Sunday. Though we will mark Easter differently, remember Jesus was persecuted,” the DP said.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

Besides weddings, Lifestyle takes stock of the changes that have come with Easter under the pandemic.

For most Christians, Easter has been a season wrought with a number of traditions, for example the washing of feet on Thursday evening, the “way of the cross” processions on Good Friday, overnight vigils on Saturday and celebratory prayers on Sundays.

But this year, at it happened last Sunday, Christians will rely on televised services from churches over Easter as churches abide by government directives on social distancing.

In the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, even those who must attend all the prayers of the church have been exempt during this period.

“I decree that the religious sisters, brothers and lay Christians residing in the Archdiocese of Nairobi be dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays, Easter Triduum [Thursday evening to the morning of Easter Sunday] and other holy days,” reads a March 26 letter by Cardinal John Njue.

Rivers of Joy Ministries International advertised on Thursday that its Easter Sunday service will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube from 11am.

As per the 2019 census, Kenya has 9.7 million Catholics - while 9.6 million belong to evangelical churches. A further 15.7 million are Protestants.

TRANSPORT AFFECTED

The Easter weekend has traditionally seen millions of Kenyans travel to be with loved ones, jamming bus termini as they criss-cross the country.

But with restrictions on travel and the fare increases, that will be limited this year.

With no entry or exit allowed into Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale, it means that a large portion of Kenya cannot be accessed because Nairobi is at the centre of most transit routes.

That means losses to players in the transport industry — according to Simon Kimutai, the chairman of the Matatu Owners’ Association.

“Business was affected from the time people were told to stay at home. There is no business any more, but as patriotic Kenyans, we will still give service to the few people who will be travelling. Most vehicles have been parked because they have become uneconomical to operate,” Kimutai told a local TV station on Tuesday.

For the first time in many years, 62-year-old Ndwiga Gatumu, a resident of Nairobi, will have an Easter holiday without his children and grandchildren.

“It has always been a tradition for my family to get together during this time. I have a wife, three children who are all married, and five grandchildren,” he told Lifestyle.

PLANS CANCELLED

For this year’s Easter, they had planned a road trip to Mt Kenya that would have lasted the entire weekend.

They had planned to leave Nairobi for Nyeri, then Meru, and later back to the city through Embu.

“I really wanted to give my grandchildren the great experience of learning about Kenya’s great heritage,” said Gatumu.

“Now we obviously had to cancel all the plans because of the pandemic. It has been so difficult explaining the reasons to my young grandchildren, who can’t really fathom the meaning and extent of the Covid-19 pandemic and its implications.”

For 37-year-old Eunice Munube, the coronavirus outbreak also means this year there will no chance to get a breath of fresh air out of the city like it has happened for the past several years.

“I have always had a holiday getaway with my daughter and mother. The Easter holidays have always been a time to reflect on the goodness of God as well as time off with family. They have always been timely because my daughter has always been out of school.

“My mother (a retired teacher) has always been part of our vacation plans because I’ve always wanted to repay her for all the sacrifices she made to ensure we had the best while growing up,” she said.

INDUSTRY IN PAIN

For the past three consecutive years, the three have travelled to the South Coast over Easter. This year, they were to attend church on Good Friday and Easter Monday then travel to Maasai Mara the following week.

“For the first time in four years, we’ll have an Easter holiday indoors. With the current pandemic and lockdowns, travelling will surely be impossible, especially with my aged mum who is at risk. But it is always better being safe than sorry, so we have to take it as it comes,” Munube said.

For 42-year-old teacher Stella Njiru, the Easter weekend has always been about family gatherings and visiting friends.

“Since Easter is also a time to give, we try to visit a children’s home to share the joy by giving something small and spending time with the children there,” she said.

She had grand plans for this year’s Easter because she was to celebrate her tenth marriage anniversary.

“We wanted to visit our parents, thank them as well as seek their blessings for the coming years. Everything had been set. We had invited other family members and friends to accompany us for the occasion,” said Njiru.

That has now been postponed indefinitely, and it is all the more hurtful when you consider the fact that the occasion was to take place in December 2019 but was called off when Njiru lost an uncle in a road crash.

Players in the hospitality industry often look forward to the Easter weekend the same way cash crop farmers wait for their bonuses — a time of boom.

But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this Easter is all about closures, staff layoffs, and downscaled operations.

BUSINESSES CLOSED

In Mombasa, major hotel chains have temporarily stopped operations.

With the cancellation of all international flights into Kenya since March 25, it means no tourists are coming in.

It doesn’t help matters that no visitor is allowed into Mombasa since Wednesday evening and that the county government has closed all public beaches.

Days before Mombasa was declared a no-go zone, most facilities had either grounded operations or scaled down.

For instance, Diani Reef Beach Resort, with a capacity of 143 rooms, was closed from the start of April.

“As a precautionary measure, we will be closed from April 1 until further notice. While this has been a tough decision, it is one that has been taken keeping in mind that the health of our guests and team members is of utmost importance,” said the facility’s Managing Director Bobby Kamani.

Most of the hotels had had people book for stays over Easter, bookings that have had to be cancelled.

To be fair to customers, most of the hotels opted to ease the rules on cancellation of bookings.

Sarova Hotels, for instance, adjusted their booking cancellation policy to enable customers holding existing individual reservations made directly via the hotel’s website or office to get exempted from paying a fine for cancelling their appointments.

OFFERS RECALLED

At Hotel EnglishPoint, most guests who had made bookings for Easter cancelled them.

“The guests who had booked for the Easter holiday called and postponed. We are closed but one of our restaurant outlets is open for guests at the apartments and delivery orders,” said Kennedy Mwichuli, the general manager.

Under ordinary circumstances, most advertisements around this time would be presenting one Easter offer or another, but this year, marketers have gone slow on sales offers.

On Thursday, a search for Easter offers targeting Kenyans on Twitter recalled not more than seven announcements.

The major retail chains and online shopping platforms in Kenya appear to have toned down on Easter shopping offers and giveaways.

—Additional reporting by Eunice Murathe