Hergla, Tunisia

Khouloud Kechiche

Khouloud Kechiche is a student at Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l'Information (IPSI) in Tunis, where she studies journalism. Schools and universities were closed, restaurants and cafes were shuttered and gatherings were prohibited. Khouloud talks about what school, Ramadan, and socializing has looked like for her during the pandemic.

What does life look like for you right now?

I’m in my hometown, Hergla. Two days before the curfew was announced, I just got home. I took my precautions. I can’t stay in Tunis because it's gonna be a lot of money. My roommates had left before me because it was March holiday. I just preferred to go home. 

Two weeks ago I was thinking that I needed to go back to Tunis and I should have never left my home there. But now, knowing that I should be back there, I prefer it here. I don’t cook, so being here is a luxury for me!

In [Tunis], cars that were out on the streets without authorization - you get authorization from the municipality - they had their drivers licenses taken away. 

Because it's [my] final year, the first semester we have to attend classes. And then after the holidays, we just go to the internship institution. We are not obliged to go to the Institute and take courses [the second semester]. So [I] didn't have any classes. But for the first year and the second year [students], the lessons they learned during college classes will not be on the exams.

In Tunisia, the infrastructure and the WiFi, and the access of the internet are not the same, and are not equal in all regions. So, many students who are in the South, especially, don't have WiFi, they don't have laptops.

The Institute just told [us] that we are going to be back on the 1st of June, but today the government said it will be postponed for another week and they will be back on the 8th of June. [Underclassmen] will have one week of study, then take a one week pause and then they will be back for three days to have exams.

They will be divided into groups. Each group will have their own day to revise and to take exams. There will be social distancing and they will provide a mask to wear to each student and, uh, they will sanitize the rooms and the dorms. They will do their best to keep everyone safe, but it's going to be hard for students.

How has Ramadan been affected because of COVID-19? 

In Ramadan, we have rituals, we have prayer.

Maghrib is the fourth prayer in the day. It's the prayer we break our fast to. It [happens] around 7, 7:30. People usually do the prayer in the mosque together. Now we can’t. Reunions and gatherings are prohibited.

People noticed a huge change and were really upset because they couldn’t [go to the mosques]. All people of Tunisia usually go to the Medina, just after Maghrib to have coffee and shishas, but [now] they couldn't. So they're just spreading into the streets [instead]. 

People didn't realize the disadvantage of the coronavirus and staying at home until the first day of Ramadan. They spend the whole day sleeping, just like I did. And then at night they can’t see their friends, they can’t enjoy Ramadan nights with their friends. They can’t smoke shisha, they can't do anything. 

Today when the government announced that the coffee shops and the restaurants [would be opening], people were writing in the comment sections everywhere about the mosques, [discussing] that they will not be open until further notice.

If I have an authorization I can go [back to Tunis], but after Eid. I will be permitted to go there because we have a student card that can replace the authorization. But, in the first day of Eid and the second day Eid, they said that you're not allowed even to go between governances.

What does social distancing look like in Tunisia? 

At first, in the first few days or weeks, maybe, they were afraid. [Because of] the death rates in Italy. And the cases in Tunisia were increasing every day, and people were really afraid. 

Only my sister and my mom are working. My sister works in a [medical] clinic, and my mom works in a college. The work is ‘divided’. Like if you work today, you will not be working tomorrow, or if [you] work the whole week, the next week will be like a holiday. 

Before Ramadan, every afternoon, people went on walks to the sea in small groups, like three people from the same family. They kept distance from each other and they greeted each other from a distance.

Not everyone [wears masks] because it's a huge problem here. [Before] the coronavirus, they were already expensive. Even though the government set a normal price for all of them, they were expensive and people couldn't buy them. But they are keeping their distance in general. 

But now, since last week, for five days in a row, we have had zero cases. So everyone was relieved and we said, ‘Tunisia is the exception’. And yeah, we did a dance! And you know everyone is in the street hugging each other and [greeting] each other with the four kisses [on the cheek].

They said that coffee shops and the restaurants will be back on June 4, and they said that maybe two weeks or so later they can go back to normal. You [won’t have to] just buy your coffee and leave. You can stay there. But they didn't say what precautions they will be taking to social distance.

The head of government said that if we have more than five cases in one region, in the next few days, we will go back to the start again.