Sometimes life provides an unexpected turn and it makes me wonder. As I look back on my life, decisions I made lead me to where I am. What would have happened if a few of those decisions were different? Where would I be now? Would I still end up in the same place? Is our paths predestined? Is my path predestined?

I have spent most of my life away from family and friends, living in one country after another and working to help those living in poverty. Throughout my life, it seems like I have always chosen a path towards helping the poor. When I was teaching in St. Paul and my poor inner city students could not afford proper gear to go camping and canoeing in our wilderness club, an anonymous donation was made to supply them with proper gear so that they could experience something they may never get a chance to do. Hopefully, those winter camping, fly fishing, backpacking, and BWCA canoeing trips gave them learning experiences that they can never get from a classroom. Many other anonymous donations have been made through the years to help children living in poverty in Kolkata and Nairobi to receive an education, but more so to just get off the streets and receive care. Sometimes, I wished I could provide them with more than the basic education.

I left my work to return home when I got words that my father's health was taking a turn for the worse. He passed away recently and now I am wondering what I will do next. While I was back home and going through my father's things, I learned how humble a person he was. The things I learn about people after they have gone makes me wonder.

Anyway, where will I get more anonymous funding for the children? My path will lead me to poverty one day.

Who would have thought 2020 is a year living in lockdown and isolation from a pandemic that is spreading. Our children in boarding schools are doing okay during the pandemic. About a third of our kids got sent back home to the streets when the lockdown began and some boarding homes closed because of government order. The boarding homes ran by the nuns remain open and many of are kids are kept safe there in this pandemic. However, all schools are still shutdown and distance learning is not something anyone will see in the slums and streets living. The pandemic is putting a pause in our kids ability to go to school and to gain an education. If the gap in education was big before the pandemic, it is even bigger now.

Economically, making a living for our kids' families is very difficult at this time and getting work to keep up with the rising cost of living is a huge challenge. The pandemic is causing prices to increase, but wages are still the same and jobs are difficult to find.

With the pandemic at over 4 million infections and rising, the situations in India and for our kids will only get worse before they get better. Fairly soon, India will surpass United States in number of Covid-19 cases. The pandemic will affect the poor much more than the wealthy. It will be a long time before the pandemic ends. I hope we will be able to recover from this chaos and our kids will not suffer too much.