Covid Chronicles
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt by individuals and families all over the world. Covid Chronicles tells the story of a Nepalese woman, Aasha, whose husband migrates to Malaysia for work, just before COVID-19 struck.
Length: 08:31
Partners: Migration for Development & Equality (MIDEQ), Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), Nepal Institute for Social and Environmental Research (NISER), Coventry University
Credits: Neeti Shrestha (artist), Jarbrain (animator), Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix (Director)
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt by individuals and families all over the world. For migrant communities, the emotional and financial strains it left were acutely felt due to the vulnerability of those left behind, and the stresses and frustrations of the migrants themselves.
We have worked directly with interviews conducted by the MIDEQ research teams in Nepal and Malaysia and adapted their findings into a story about a Nepalese woman, Aasha, whose husband migrates to Malaysia for work, just before COVID-19 struck. By positioning the story from the point of view of Aasha, looking after her two young children and her elderly parents in-law in rural Nepal, we explore an often overlooked story of a wife and mother at home after her husband migrates. Doing so illustrates the emotional and financial challenges migrant families face, amplified through the pandemic.