The Salesians in India have many friends in our Province, and this week, Fr Payyamthadathil George SDB, Economer of Bangalore Province, shared news of what they are doing to help the poorest who are so badly affected in the COVID 19 crisis. India is in 3 weeks of lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus, and Fr George says Kerala State, where the Salesians are fully present, is one of the most affected regions. Though the spread was initially progressing relatively slowly, recent news is that it is escalating. The Salesians are doing all they can to prevent the spread into crowded communities. (First photo above: raising awareness on the streets)

"Currently, I am overseeing the outreach activities that the Bangalore Province has taken up to support the migrant workers and those who live on the streets who do not have any access to food. There are certain categories of people who do not fall under any of the classifications of the Government, so they do not get any benefit from the Government. We are targeting such groups of people and try to reach out to them primarily through food, provisions, medicines and masks. We have also adopted some stringent measures to prevent the outbreak in our shelter homes where hundreds of poor children are staying," Fr George said.

Don Bosco College and the hostel facilities at Angadikadavu are being used by the Government as quarantine facilities for people travelling to Kerala from Karnataka. Five of the Salesian institutions are making masks which are distributed in public places for the safety of the people who live on the streets, and the Province may bring more of its institutions into this scheme soon. All of the Province's social work projects are working to raise awareness in their local neighbourhoods of the virus and methods of preventing its spread.

At the moment, every Don Bosco setting is feeding 50-60 local families in dire need of food, and plans are in hand to increase this. Twelve Don Bosco Institutions in Kerala are looking after migrant families and will reach out to more than 5000 people in the coming weeks. Each family will be given a food kit consisting of provisions, vegetables and oil for one week. The Salesians are also working to support those who are blind and the disabled.

Online services are developing to help as as children and older students are confined to their homes. "We intend to conduct online activities for children such as competitions, games or quizzes, etc. We also would inform them of the available facilities like tele-counselling, medical advice and spiritual support," says Fr George.

Fr George also shared links to apps created by the governments of Karnataka and Kerala to disseminate information about the Coronavirus which friends and families in the UK may wish to download. For Karnataka, and for Kerala.

We ask for your prayers for the Salesians in India and the people they are supporting. If you would like to donate to help their efforts, please contact our Finance Manager, Nicola Howell on nicola.howell@salesians.org.uk