By Fr. Bosco Zeya Aung (Nyi Nyi)

Nazareth House - Anisakan Myanmar, 2 August 2020 -- Here in Anisakan, Salesian Community of Nazareth House, all of us are fine. Reflecting upon these past few months, Covid pandemic, while it brings so many hardships to the lives of many people, it also brings so many blessings to our Salesian and education - pastoral community.

First of all, because of lock-down, we, the Salesians, have ample time to share with one another, to know more about each other and to become closer to each other. Before with so many (160-170) boys with us, we had very little time to chat and laugh. Our meal times were always short but now we take more time to share and enjoy one's another story. Now we have 23 boys with us and since there are not many, we come to know more about them, we can do the so-called 'personal accompaniment' to them listening to their interesting stories. Many of them come from poor families and a few have some family problems.

Another blessing we received during these days is that we could reach out to 500 poor families, helping them with some dry food ration. We got financial help from ACTS Singapore. It was a very touching experience to witness the smiles and joys of the poor people upon receiving help. A thought keeps coming to my mind, as though He who is above keeps talking to me ... 'Hey don't complain anything about your Salesian life, your poverty is nothing compared to theirs'...

During these days, we Salesians take more time for prayers, praying everyday for all the children of God who are suffering from Covid. Since the boys are on holidays for a longer period this year, we could do more house maintenance and I would say for us Salesians, as we have less activities, this is a time also to do spiritual maintenance.

NB: The ordinary number of boarding students in Nazareth House is 170, assisted by a strong SDB community of 7 Salesians with some Nazareth Past Pupils - volunteers also involved in the teaching and education.

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