Serving In The Midst Of A Pandemic

 The pandemic was definitely a scary thing for the world when it first started, people lived in fear and didn’t even want to go outside, but not if you lived in Taiwan. The spread of COVID-19 was very well managed here in Taiwan in fact there was only a two-week lockdown compared to the rest of the countries. 

 

A lot of people asked me if I wanted to go home and if I was safe living in Asia. The truth is I have never felt safer, specially living in Hualien. Our daily life did change a bit by wearing our mask every minute and constantly washing our hands. Teaching whilst wearing a mask was definitely hard in the beginning, it was even harder in the super-hot days but if it meant keeping the students safe, others safe and my own self safe then I was willing to do it.

 

I was a bit worried because I didn’t know if the students were going to abide by the mask wearing rules but to my dismay each and every one of them had such good discipline, if they forgot to wear it, after a kind reminder they would quickly put their mask back on. The sad thing about the masks is that I couldn’t see the children’s faces and they couldn’t see mine which would make it difficult for us to remember each other, but whenever we had our last day and it was time for pictures I would take my mask off and it was so so sweet to hear their gasps and little whispers of “oh look at teacher Julie!” “she took her mask off! wowww look at her face!” I do hope these two very common phrases meant something good hahah.

 

Sadly enough good times come to an end, recently Taiwan has been faced with a large COVID spread around the island. Aside from the spread, Taiwan is also currently facing a drought. I encourage you to pray for Taiwan, all the people living here, the students and all our teachers. 

 

Though our camps have been cancelled for a few weeks I eagerly await the day we can see the students again even if it means I have to wear a mask during the scorching heat ;)

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Juliana (also called Julie) Pinilla is nineteen years old. Growing up in New York City and in a family with six siblings, she has loved taking care and teaching her younger brother and sisters. Her dream was to one day become a teacher and now she is pursuing that dream by teaching English in Hualien, Taiwan.Julie enjoys taking photos while traveling to new places in Taiwan and trying new delicious treats everywhere she goes. You can find her either journaling or reading a book inside a coffee shop or spending time with the friends she has made while living here. She hopes to show the love of Christ through her actions and words to everyone she meets.