大象传媒

Deaghlan, 16, left his family behind in South Africa and moved to Northern Ireland to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist.

I moved to Belfast from South Africa with my gran in the middle of December 2019, leaving behind my parents and brothers and sisters in order to further my education.

But within a few months we had gone into lockdown here, and I've had to cope with both leaving behind my family and the life I'd known in South Africa, as well as living in lockdown. Due to the current restrictions, I don't know when I'll next get to see my parents.

My mum is from Belfast. She and her family left Northern Ireland for South Africa 45 years ago. But when my gran came back to Northern Ireland last December, I came with her.

I want to be a journalist. So I came to Belfast to do a Media and Music Technology course at Belfast Met.

It's been hard not seeing my family, as I was supposed to see them here at the beginning of May. Then I was meant to be flying back to South Africa later in a June for a holiday with them.

But South Africa has some of the strictest lockdown rules in the world, so I just found out I won't be able to go there. This is really testing me and my family as I've never been away from them for more than a month - it has made being in isolation 10 times worse.

I've been chatting to them over video calls , but it still has been a shock. I also miss my dogs a load as they are a part of our family.
But there have been some positives to lockdown as I have been able to focus on my interests in music and journalism.

I started a six month People's Management course in January while I wait for the Media and Music course to begin in September, and we have been doing zoom calls just to keep us going.

As I reflect on my experience of the coronavirus lockdown I would say it’s had its ups and downs. I’m still enjoying the city and the craic of Belfast during this sad time. I keep a positive mindset to achieve my goals, as I continue to work on my music and journalism dreams.