By Sister Oluchi Ejiemenu, SNDdeN
Our world has been ravaged by a new pandemic called Coronavirus (covid-19). This pandemic has eaten deep into the system, livelihood and fabrics of our world that the rich and the poor are fighting to stay alive through social distancing, hand washing with soap and water/sanitizer and observing the stay at home lockdowns. In Nigeria, while the rich and average income earners are able to cushion the effects of staying at home, the poor, low/daily income earners are growing very hungry by the day with no means of fending for their families as a result of the several weeks of business lockdown in some cities. The numbers of people hungry have become so many that the foods and other palliatives from the government, companies and people of goodwill are like drops in the ocean.
In the midst of this reality, Tanke community thought of what St. Julie would do at a time like this to bring smiles at least to some poor women and children. As sisters of Notre Dame whose mission has option for the poor especially in the most abandoned places, we decided to embark on feeding the poor at Easter with our Lenten savings.
Members of the community sprang to action; we cooked rice and beef dish and packaged with drinks and moved onward for distributions to the poor with delight. On our first trip, April 13th, we feed 9 persons. Seeing the number of persons in need of food on that day, we made more dishes on April 24th and three sisters went out to food 58 persons who were mostly the most vulnerable. This simple act of love brought much joy and smiles to their hearts and faces. We were also joyful that we could reach out. God is indeed good.
