FEATURE
Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic By FIS Social Communications
T
he first COVID-19 case in the Philippines was confirmed on January 30, 2020, a day before St. John Bosco’s feast day. The days that followed were marked by tension and anxiety as airports, seaports, and borders started to close. The FIS Province emergency response team known as the “Don Bosco Disaster Intervention, Response Emergency Coordinating Team” or DB-DIRECT was activated to coordinate the various initiatives and responses to address the crisis. Headed by Fr. Joriz Calsa, SDB, provincial delegate to the CYM, it is composed of Salesians and lay people from the different provincial commissions.
The FIS Province emergency response team known as the “Don Bosco Disaster Intervention, Response Emergency Coordinating Team” or DB-DIRECT was activated to coordinate the various initiatives and responses to address the crisis. Friends from the medical industry began asking for help and for prayers. Since there are two Salesian training centers have dressmaking programs, Don Bosco was asked to help produce and provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Alumni and college engineering professors also lent their expertise in designing zero-touch sanitation machines and alcohol dispensers. Hence, the FIS Solidarity COVID-19 response was born. St. John Bosco Today | January-March 2021
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