This year we have started studying English history and literature. A very exalting topic has been the epic poem and the fascinating figure of a Scandinavian legendary hero: “Beowulf”. When our English teacher asked us what the word and the figure of a hero made us think of, our mind flew to a mythical, unreal world made of men and women endowed with deep values such as bravery, loyalty, altruism  but our attention was also focused  immediately on  those  who are on the frontline in the fight against the Coronavirus Pandemic in our real world.

From health workers to public servants, they all are rightly getting our plaudits for their brave and tireless work in this very critical time due to this epidemic.

But the crisis has also revealed some unexpected heroes who are showing ingenuity and community spirit to tackle the health emergency that is engulfing the world.

In this tough period we cannot but think particularly of all those wonderful people who are providing ceaseless care and attention to those most at risk helping to provide vital support and reassurance: doctors, nurses, paramedics and the  medical staff who under enormous strain and  at their own risk  are dedicated to save lives in intense care wards  and to contain as much as possible the spread of this virus; marvelous people whose extraordinary skills make us so very proud. Other people are volunteers offering their help to do whatever they can to provide support to those on the frontline.

And let me say in these hard times we are probably all secret heroes.

We are all fighting against an invisible enemy. Mankind will find a way to get out of this even though right now with no cure seems the right one and no timeline available for this, we don’t know. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know how long it will last, and we don’t know how many more deaths it will take in each country. We only know that we’ re going to find a way.