After the Covid-19 pandemic, will everything return to how it was before – or will we change how we live in the future? Will we realise the need to make this world a better place, both for people and for nature?

These are the key questions in a journalism-themed writing competition, Life After Covid-19 – The Future We Want.

The competition forms part of a broader reporting project supported by Super Save and Media Development and Diversity Agency

“We are encouraging high school children to document their experiences of the pandemic and reflect on how they would like to see the world change for the better,” said Roving Reporters director Fred Kockott. “Reflection is a first step to change, and this project gives learners a voice and an opportunity to have some agency in how their future unfolds.”

The competition follows a recent, successful pilot writing competition, Life in Lockdown in Mzamba, catering for Grade 6 and 7 learners at Ithuba Wild Coast Community College near the Wild Coast Sun casino. Read: Written from the heart: Wild Coast learners document their hopes and fears.

Schools in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal that wish to register for the Life After Covid-19 writing competition should contact Kockott on 083 277 8907 or email fredk@rovingreporters.co.za  before August 17.

A comprehensive writing guide to help learners write good narratives is available on request.

Now read: Poet’s take on life after Covid-19: “We fell asleep in one world and woke in another”
Haroon Rashid wrote the following poem that went viral after the worldwide outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic

We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.

Suddenly Disney is out of magic,

Paris is no longer romantic,

New York doesn’t stand up anymore,

The Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.

Suddenly you realize that power, beauty & money are worthless, and can’t get you the oxygen you’re fighting for.

The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it’s sending us a message:

“You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters.”