Dalal Mawad, Video Journalist and Producer

Twitter / IG : @dalalmawad 

www.dalalmawad.com

How are you living your lockdown? 

I won't lie to you; this has been difficult, and I had to cope with a lot of anxiety especially when I was still reporting to work. Some people I know tested positive with the coronavirus. I was also very worried about my father who is a surgeon and still goes to work every day. 

I have been confined to our home for the past 7 weeks. I am taking this day by day and trying to make the best out of each day. 

I still work from home for about 8 hours a day, often on stories related to the new virus and so that has been stressful but it keeps me very busy and productive, which I like and then I am safe. I have a young daughter so my partner has been helping, it is a challenge to work with a kid around, it can be very frustrating and distracting.

I try and workout every day, it has helped me a lot, kept me mentally sane. I am also trying to catch up on family time, I used to travel a lot, be absent for work and now I am grateful to spend more time with my daughter. I have also been able to watch a lot of films, documentaries and series that I had been eyeing for a while.

From your active life, what do you miss the most?

I miss traveling, whether for work or leisure. I traveled a lot, almost every month and this is all very weird to me, being in one place for so long. I miss moving freely, the adrenaline rush I get from going on assignments, to new places. 

What don't you miss?  

I don't miss traffic, air pollution and our fast-paced lives. This has given us some time to think, to reevaluate our lifestyles and priorities. 

How do you think life will be after Corona?

Our lives will never be the same. I think part of what people are witnessing today is a sort of mass grieving, and part of that is grieving our past lives. Humanity has been through many turning points, and this is one of them. After major historical events, the world witnessed drastic changes and this time won't be different. The economic repercussions of this crisis will be felt for a long time. Governments will change their priorities, for example, I believe that healthcare, as a sector, will be taken more seriously in budgets and research, airports won't look or feel the same, people will change their priorities, their behavior and I hope they change their lifestyles too. I think, among other things, this pandemic has showed us how unsustainable our lives were, how much our planet needed a respite. We can no longer take our freedom for granted, our ability to move, I will personally not wait to do what I want to do, because just like this, one day, the whole world can go still.

A word of encouragement to our readers

This is just a temporary crisis. Yes, it is difficult, but these are exceptional times and so don't put too much pressure on yourselves. Try to enjoy it, make the best out of it because soon enough, we will get out of this and we will look back and this will be a mere distant memory!

What are your future projects?

Aside from my daily job as a video journalist producing news videos, I am excited to be working on my first feature documentary as director. The film’s story is in Lebanon and I hope it sees the light !