The Big Cs that will help us get through this

This is what our family has adopted to help us get through the next weeks and months at home. It may be something that you would like to respond to.

1.  Coronavirus: A serious threat! Our family and our home are only as safe as our weakest link. Every family member has a duty of care to ensure that we keep ourselves safe to keep others safe.


2. Consult: Before going out of the home (for whatever reason), we will consult with each other and collectively evaluate the risks.


3. Communicate: We are not used to living together 24/7 on top of each other, and not being able to go to work or see our friends. There will be many niggles and tensions. We will raise issues when they arise and talk about them openly.


4. Cooperate and Collaborate: These are not normal times. We will work together to run the household and to try and solve problems when they arise. We will work with networks in our neighbourhood and our city to keep in touch and support others who need help.


5. Contribute: We will divide up the jobs to do around the house, and we will be accountable to each other to get these tasks done without being reminded.


6. Create: We will no doubt get bored quite quickly sitting around doing nothing, worrying about our safety and the future. We will encourage and support each other to use this time creatively.


7. Check-in: We will check-in together at least once a day to get a sense as to how each of us is feeling and coping.


8. Care and Compassion: We know that each of us will feel anxious, depressed or angry from time to time. We will try and relate to each other with understanding. We will “count to 10” before we respond recklessly.


9. Contain: We will try and contain our own anxieties as much as possible to stop them spilling over.


10. Courage: We know that there will be tough times ahead, for our family, friends, colleagues, city, country and our planet. We will face challenges together, with courage.

• Andrew Boraine lives and works in Cape Town. He is the CEO of the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP), an organisation that helps people and institutions work better together to solve complex problems.