Tom Miller is a musician and lives in Salford, Manchester, in the UK. He sent his postcard on 6 May. 

Tom is used to the rhythm of playing regular gigs, spending time with friends and going to his day job at a music shop. Tom provides bass, synths and programming for Lindsay Munroe and he also plays occasional guitar and bass for Patchwork Guilt.

In January he was gifted Trikafta, an experimental drug to treat Cystic Fibrosis, and it changed his life. Finally able to think longer term means the sudden shift to shielding from the Coronavirus pandemic has been particularly challenging. Shielding is vital for the 1.3m most clinically vulnerable people in the UK.

In this postcard he describes life in complete isolation and why he’s angry, but also grateful. And why repeated hospital admissions means he’s better able to cope with it all. 

Nafissa is from Afghanistan and is currently living in a refugee camp in Athens, Greece. This postcard was recorded over a series of WhatsApp voice messages on 3 May.

Nafissa fled Afghanistan at the age of 16 after being sold to a man linked to the Taliban. She travelled alone through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and then by perilous boat journey to Lesbos, Greece. During this time she met her boyfriend and they now live in a shared container with their three daughters.

Throughout this postcard, Nafissa is unafraid to share her traumatic story. She talks about her Coronavirus worries, how refugee support services had to stop when the virus threatened Greece, and her dreams for a more stable future. 

Rachel Velebny is a freelance writer who lives in Amsterdam with her husband and cat in an apartment that doubles as her office. She sent her postcard on 28 April.

She is currently contributing the text for Startup Guide but her internship at a fashion media company had to be put on hold when COVID-19 containment began. 

Rachel moved to Amsterdam from the UK after a period of poor mental health and, in this postcard, she recounts how learning to deal with anxiety means she’s better prepared than most for life in isolation. But that, as she’ll describe, doesn’t mean that The Netherlands “intelligent lockdown” strategy has been without its challenges. 

Blanca Frappier lives in Minnesota, USA, where she is an audio book artist and mother to three young children.

In this postcard, recorded on 26 April, Blanca reflects on how Coronavirus has interrupted her year of saying “yes” which was about finding herself again beyond motherhood. 

She also recounts how the effects of living through undiagnosed COVID-19 triggered memories of her impoverished childhood, and subsequently deepened her understanding of the decisions mothers make.

Emer McKenna lives near Dublin, Ireland, and is a stay at home mother to two young boys for whom she’s worked hard alongside her husband Colin to create a nurturing home. Her eldest son, George, has autism so the transition from school to lockdown needed to be managed carefully.

In this postcard, recorded on 19th April, she talks about maintaining structure for the children whilst mindfully appreciating the positives about life, despite the wider Coronavirus fears. 

Caroline is from the Montreal area of Canada. Usually her role includes working with patients from both her practice and at the hospital. Shortly before the Coronavirus pandemic spread across Canada, Caroline’s personal situation changed and she had to withdraw from frontline practice. 

In this postcard she talks about balancing the guilt of not being able to support her colleagues and patients in the way she would like with the need to look after herself. 

She sent this postcard on 16 April from her office, just before seeing her first patient of the day by video link. 

Natalie Brownstein lives in Sydney, Australia – a short walk from Bondi beach. She is mother to two young boys and is currently self-isolating in their apartment along with her husband who is working from home. 

When Coronavirus emerged in the city, Natalie was just getting her business – Bespoke PA – back on track after the birth of her second son and subsequent postnatal depression. 

She sends this postcard, recorded on 11 April, to her sons so they can hear about this period of their childhood when they’re older. In it, she describes the scaling back of daily life and tries to imagine what it will be like after the virus has receded.

Gergana is a mother of twins who lives in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. She sent her postcard on 3 April.

In doing so, she imagined herself as a castaway on an abandoned island and wanted to reach people who would hear her concern. 

She said of the Bulgarian government “I need to talk about the corruption, to do something, otherwise I too am complicit”. Gergana’s concern has merit; Reporters without Borders lists Bulgaria at 111th for freedom of speech.

Since 2009, when Boyko Borisov was elected for a third term, trust in fair elections has decreased and Transparency International rates the country’s governance 43/100 due to public sector corruption. As such, she has anxieties about Bulgaria’s ability to deal with Coronavirus.

In this postcard, Gergana also paints a portrait of family life, organised to meet the needs of her twin daughters, that works in equal partnership with her husband.

Francesca Orlando is an Italian ex-pat, a Nutritionist, mother to two young boys and she lives in San Diego, USA.

Francesca recorded a detailed and intimate portrait of the protective bubble she has created for her children in their home. She plans gentle days filled with painting stones, making focaccia and curling up on the sofa together. It’s her hope that the boys remember this time positively despite the coronavirus fears that inevitably seep in.

Underlying this is a thrum of anxiety. The time she’s dedicating to her children is time she is not working, though she maintains a positive outlook.

She ends her postcard offering sanctuary to friends who may be in abusive relationships. This is a fear based on evidence; as the Guardian reported two days ago, cases of domestic abuse spike during periods of economic and social crisis.

Tiana Melendez is a mother, hairstylist and partner in her husband’s disaster clean up company based in New Jersey, USA. They usually deal with household floods and fires but recently, COVID-19 clean ups have become the norm.

She took ten minutes between running errands for household essentials and work to send this postcard from her car. At times, the WhatsApp connection faded but the strength of her fear and anxiety came through.

Since recording this postcard her father has presented with Coronavirus symptoms.