Together we can make it - Love as COVID-19 anti-virus
"In these days we have to stay at home, but we have a secret to be happy just as well: to love. So every morning we roll the dice and do what it says." The Gen 4, who are the children of the Focolare, do not stop: even in quarantine, they begin each day by rolling "the dice of love", of which each side shows a point of the art of loving, and they commit themselves to living it. So the "house" becomes a place to be filled with acts of love, and for this reason the children in Rome have also built a "little house" made of cardboard where they put all the little notes where they write or draw their daily experiences!
In some cities, the Gen 4 boys and girls, together with their parents, have made posters and letters to offer help to the elderly in their condominiums.
"But what if some children in our condominium don't have as many games as we do?" Niccolò and Margherita, Italian Gen 4, asked themselves instead. So they left a box at the entrance of their apartment with this sign: "Hello! We found at home some games that we no longer need. If you wish, you can take them and you don't need to return them. Go ahead!"
The Gen 4 are present all over the world and if this pandemic affects all countries, it is obvious for them to be present and to remember everyone. Here is for example the prayer of the Gen 4 of South KOREA (see attachment 1)
In TANZANIA, a gen 4, seeing how many children were suffering because they didn't have food because of the COVID-19, donated all the money she had been collecting for a long time in a box (40,800 of the local currency = about 17,00 euro!).
In PORTUGAL, they thought of doing something for all the Superheroes, who in this period have personally given their contribution to help: not only nurses, doctors, but also those who work in the shops, the policemen, the street cleaners .... (see attachment 2)
Alongside the children, the Focolare animators are on the front line to accompany them in this delicate period. With the collaboration of the parents, so many meetings are held through the social media, via Zoom for example, creating networks and small groups like in GUATEMALA so as not to leave anyone alone (see attachment 3). These are opportunities to share experiences and a reminder to pray for the sick and those who suffer like in Bilbao (SPAIN), and also moments of celebration like in NAPLES, where, with improvised instruments, a wonderful orchestra was set up that linked and gave moments of happiness to many children in their homes (see attachment 4). In Portugal, every Sunday some adults also make a video with a small show on the Gospel and share it on the social media.