Dear everyone,

As of today, global COVID-19 cases have reached over 19 million with 700 thousand deaths. One can’t help shivering when just hearing the number itself, let alone seeing them or having relatives among them. Presumably, on top of the upheavals caused by the pandemic, people have also been suffering from the turmoils resulted from their reactions driven by their own self-defense and survival instincts. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, used to call for urgent actions from governments to address another crisis, which is the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic. It includes grief at the loss of loved ones; anxiety at the loss of jobs; shock by lockdown rules; uncertainty for the future…

The worst case scenario did not happen to us or our loved ones but seeing the sufferings of others around us has given us an insight that being still alive and having the ones we love by our side are a tremendous blessing.

Radio Episode 9 titled “Heaven has guarded us for today” would like to use a poem verse in “The Story of Kieu” by the greatest poet Nguyen Du that is all familiar to most Vietnamese people. We hope it will remind you to appreciate the precious values of happy gathering with the loved ones that we are fortunate to have after the turbulence.