The current Covid pandemic that started early this year has brought the whole world to its knees. It knows no bounderies, skin colour, nor cares about any of our status. Within a period of a few months, it has infected millions and sadly many people has succumb to it.  Borders closed, air travel ceases and many countries went under lock down.  It seems like a movie that we have watched many times, where a deadly virus lurks and people are constantly living in fear. But only this time, we are the actors in this movie. Amidst this current crisis,  as we dwell deeper, it is undeniable that our world is intertwined together so tightly.  Laudato Si’ tells us that everything is connected and it is reflected clearly in the current situation.

 The destruction of natural habitat through logging or burning, illegal wildlife trading breaks down the natural barrier that was meant to protect both the animals and humans. When the make up of a wildlife, and in many cases, unknown bacteria or virus get pass to humans, it becomes deadly to us. When these disease starts to spread like the Coranovirus has, millions of people gets infected by it and one of the group that are the most vulnerable are people who have been living in poverty. Some of these people had to walk hundreds of kilometres just to go back to their hometown as the country lock down and they have no money to continue staying where they are. Some of them end up dying in the streets even before reaching home. Many live in cramp small spaces thus making it easier for diseases to spread in the community. Part of Laudato Si’ messages tells us the importantance of caring for our common home and here  we see this in the act of brave nurses, doctors and people from all walks of lives banding together to save lives and support in anyway they can. Without these unity and support it will be much harder for any individual to come out from this darkness. Despite the looming situation, there is yet a glimmer of hope that came out of this. During the period when the world comes to a stand still, the skies which was once polluted start to clear up in many countries, mountain ranges could be seen from far away. Animals starts to emerge where they are not commonly seen and even the endangered animals like the leather back sea turtles seems to flourish a bit better. Through this outbreak, we can learn a little from it and know that if all of us try a bit harder, we can, together built a even better world and ecosystem than what we had before. Nature can regenerate itself, but it cannot be done without our help.

It will be foolish of us not to learn anything from this pandemic and to continue to behave like how it was before. Let us emerge stronger and wiser and together we can fight for a better common home for ourselves and for our future generations.