Fellow sufferers… Women’s empowerment

Locked down! There are now nearly three billion of us confined to our homes to protect ourselves from COVID-19, which is raging across the globe. Our daily lives have shifted focus to our family circles, our safe havens, each of us in our own homes.

Brrr… it’s hard to admit when you’ve always seen life as centred on others, open to cultures from the far corners of the world, and the everyday lives that inspire Sri Lankan, Vietnamese and South African women… A shared diversity that enriches us all as we gather round the traditional cup of tea the moment we step through the door, experiencing the hospitality of one family after another, sipping tea all day long…

With our borders closed, so too are our doors. So I’m retreating into reading; a good half-dozen books await me to entertain, enrich and move me – a change of pace. Since we have to endure this period of self-isolation to look after ourselves, we might as well stay positive whilst treating ourselves. My recipe for cosy time for three: a teapot kept constantly warm, my brewed green tea releasing its vibrant fragrance, straight out of the souk or a story by Monod… along with my book, my companions in misfortune.

And don’t go thinking my organic tea is contaminated! Or rather, yes, it is – with health benefits: aids digestion, hydrating, rich in antioxidants, delicious, thirst-quenching… all wrapped up in a fresh, plant-based cloud…

Did you say ‘lockdown’?

Look after yourselves…

Emmanuelle B. in the early hours of Friday 27 March 2020