With the crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused our society, in the near future, if not already at present, we may be having students whose families have been affected by the economic dislocation due to the pandemic, who are in emotional turmoil seeing the harsh realities affecting the poor majority of the population, or psychologically affected knowing the fears, overwork, exhaustion and burn-out of doctors and nurses in the frontlines, or anxious of what the future for them will hold when they graduate. We may not have heroes anymore who are going to risk their lives saving the lives of COVID-19 patients, with hundreds of nurses already resigning here in Cebu City. We may be acting as mentors to these students who come to us with their fears and anxieties. We should of course not shun away from them but be strong ourselves. How to be strong ourselves is a challenge too when we ourselves might be overwhelmed with the same fears and anxieties for the future. Listening to them is a great first step. It is a a mutual relationship where we can grow together with our mentee to be strong and face the odds of the worse that may yet to come in our economy, our lives, and in our society. As I write this, Manila Bulletin today says that 150 million worldwide will go hungry by the end of the year. April 2020 news had 265 million facing acute hunger by end of the year due to the lockdowns.
Somehow, let us continue to do what we can, not just as mentors, health educators, health professionals, but as ordinary citizens who work together with other sectors to address the impact of the pandemic on our lives.