Day by day, the pandemic is forcing us to change our familiar ways of living. Together with the worldwide human family we have many anxieties and uncertainties. Around our locality in Sirsia many people have tested positive for the coronavirus. A daily increase of people with the virus has been confirmed each day.
Our community lives in the midst of many poor families. These families depend on their father’s wage but due to the lockdown it is very difficult for them to keep their job. Fortunately there are paddy fields around us and working for the seasonal crop is helping them to a certain extent. However the cost of essentials is shooting up making life more complicated. We try to help them by taking care of their children. As we look after them we can see the shadow of sadness and worry on their innocent faces.
Unfortunately we are unable to help all of them. Therefore we have decided to help one of the poor families at a time. We provide the family with a month’s provisions this includes a sack of rice, lentils, and potatoes and some oil. Every month we will be helping a different poor family of our locality in this way until the situation gets better.
In an attempt to reach out to more poor children of our locality and also to our co-workers, we have been giving them the fruits from our garden like bananas, guavas, cherries, jackfruits and also some vegetables. Amidst all the unemployment we have glimpsed happiness on their faces because of this little help that we can offer them. We are also able to help many of our teachers and children by providing them with free medicines. We also make people aware of the safety protocols such as wearing a mask and the importance of social distancing in the public areas and crowded places.
For many months our school has been forced to close because of the new restrictions. Due to the poverty of the region, online classes for poor students in a village like Sirsia is unimaginable. For our teachers, students and parents, life is becoming more fearful and chaotic daily and they also fear how they will survive in the days to come.
Srs. Jyoti, Neelu and Marina
