Reaching Out in Goodness and Solidarity

With the growing concern of the economic implication of the COVID – 19 crisis, the Mary Our Help Province (Cambodia-Myanmar) took the challenge of attending to the needs of the poor families of our schoolchildren who are adversely affected by the crisis.  Due to the crisis, some factories, where a majority of our parents are working, have been closed. The closure has placed many poor families in a difficult situation. With the suspension of classes, the children (kindergarten and elementary pupils) who were provided with a free, nutritious lunch meal in school, have been deprived of this meal.

Moreover, in Yangon, Myanmar in particular, being the most populated city in Myanmar with the lockdown of the houses and factories, our neighbors and our contact people like trickshaw drivers (47) families and some families of 2008 Nargis Cyclone hit villages (Wartaya and Leikon) are very much affected for earning their daily wages. Finding themselves in such a difficult situation, with no work and no wage, families have no income to buy the basic necessities and food for daily sustenance.

Given this reality before us, the 9 FMA communities in Cambodia and Myanmar decided to take the initiative to help these families providing them with some basic food supplies to sustain them for some weeks during this challenging crisis.

Despite financial uncertainties, some of our generous friends and benefactors from Singapore, Hongkong, Germany and India willingly share whatever they can to the Salesian Sisters in Phnom Penh. Thus, enabling us to raise funds to procure food supplies for the neediest among the poor families. As soon as donations started pouring in, the Sisters of the Provincial House (Teuk Thla) committed themselves in preparing the food supplies made up of 10 kilos of rice, oil, canned fish, sugar, noodles, condensed milk which so far have reached more than 800 families (4000 individuals).

With the help coming from CHARIS (Singapore) the Sisters to reach out to 1900 families (9,500 individuals) in Cambodia and Myanmar providing them food supplies which could ease their hunger.

Other initiatives taken by two FMA communities in Myanmar (Production Centers in Yangon and Anisakan) are the production of masks and uniforms of healthworkers, especially the nurses who are attending to the people affected by COVID 19.