VOLUME V / ISSUE I / JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2021
there were no leaves on the trees. I thought the trees were all dead.” LOCKED-DOWN LOVE In the background, COVID-19 was lurking. It was declared a pandemic early on March 11. Countries began closing borders and locking down. Patrick was due to return home April 3. Two days prior, Malawi announced a moratorium on arriving international flights. “In the beginning, it was great! I thought, ‘Yes, He gets to stay another week,’ “ Fiona said. Then she found a job with the local health authority, “calling people to tell them they tested positive for COVID-19.”
to keep himself busy, from doing odd jobs at her parents’ house to visiting farms to learn about their animals. He also rediscovered his love for painting. “I used to paint animals when I was a child. But when I grew older, I no longer had the time.” Fiona found him an easel, and Patrick began painting scenes that reminded him of home. He even sold a few pieces, including a depiction of Malawi’s “Big Five” wild animals that a villager commissioned for a door.
Patrick, too, is struggling with the separation: “I feel so lonely.”
One unexpected outcome for Patrick was the embrace of the village community: “Everyone knew my story. People would come up to me and ask, ‘How are you?’ “
“Our cultures are so different — that initially caused some friction, but as we got to know Patrick, we saw what a great guy he was,” said Aaldert. Rita will miss her daughter when she moves to Malawi. “But if she is happy there, then we are too.”
Patrick spent more and more time alone. As the weeks went by, he became despondent. “It was hard because I was stuck. I could do nothing,” Patrick recalls. He found it difficult to deal with the stress, and he missed his daughter.
But it took him a while to get used to the famous directness of the Dutch. “Here people will talk about things very openly, like illness or other private experiences. In Malawi, we don’t open up this much about our lives.”
Fiona did what she could. “Whenever he had a bad day, I would try to be there. A hug or a kiss, whatever we needed, to let each other know that we still love each other.”
On Sept. 1, Malawi reopened its airports for a limited number of international flights. But obstacles still loomed, from flight cancellations to a lack of funds for a new ticket.
Fiona was promoted, responsible for a team of health workers. She was working 50 to 60 hours a week.
But on Nov. 3, Patrick flew home. “It has not really hit me yet that he’s gone. I really miss him when I wake up,” said Fiona.
And Patrick eventually found ways
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The bride- and groom-to-be are excited about 2021. “I am looking forward to starting a life with my beautiful Fiona,” said Patrick. Fiona, who hopes to move to Malawi in May, looks back on their seven months together as a blessing in disguise. Her parents got to know Patrick better than they could have ever hoped for.
Patrick feels his time in Middelstum was a transformative experience for Fiona and him. “We faced this challenge as a couple. Sure, we had our fair share of fights, but we resolved them.” Fiona believes living together so intensely for seven months made them stronger. “Patrick has learned to share his emotions with me. We’ve survived and are more in love than ever.” And for Patrick and Fiona, that’s a romantic silver lining to the pandemic. NICK SCHONFELD NPR 2021