This photo, taken on October 17, 2020, shows volunteers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) sitting inside an ambulance as they prepare to transfer local residents suspected of having the COVID-19 coronavirus to a quarantine centre in Yangon. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)
Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindu in Myanmar have stepped up, extending a helping hand as the Southeast Asian nation struggles with the second wave of Covid-19.
Interfaith leaders are busy mobilizing young volunteers for government-run hospitals and quarantine centers. They also arrange for religious buildings to be used as quarantine facilities. Religious organizations assist poor and vulnerable families with food, non-food items, and Covid-19 personal protective equipment for hospitals. A mosque in Yangon, Myanmar's commercial center, has arranged food boxes daily to be sent to quarantine centers since mid-September with funding from private donors, and a Muslim aid association has continued providing food items to the needy. A Hindu community in Yangon provides needy families with rice bags and other food items. Young Buddhist volunteers and social organizations help bring people suspected of infection to quarantine facilities and burying the dead. The Catholic bishops have appealed to parishes to share their resources with at least 50 poor families in every parish of Myanmar's 16 dioceses. The bishops and Karuna (Caritas) Myanmar plans to help another 5,000 families nationwide. Each of the 16 dioceses is requested to send 5,000,000 Kyats( US$3,816 ) as contributions for the national contingency funds to be used for the most needed. "These are challenging times. We are sure Bishops and leaders of religious organizations will activate the spirit of generosity and compassion in our people to reach out to those in need," Catholic Bishops'