4 . At the end of January, a man surnamed Chen had a fever and coughed for a few days after traveling from Wuhan to Shanghai. He hesitated for a few days before going to Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, according to Xinmin Evening News. He wanted to talk with the doctor alone because he worried that others would fear him.

Since the outbreak of the new virus, there has been a sense of fear of people from Hubei province. On January 23, Chen Xue, an editor working in Beijing, went to Chongli in Hebei for a ski trip. Though her temperature was fine and she hasn't been back to her hometown- Hubei province- since October last year, the hotel she was in told her that it wouldn't receive Hubei guests from the next day.

“What we should isolate (隔离) is the virus instead of people from Hubei province,” People’s Daily commented on January 27. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently gave a speech in which he repeated this idea. “Even though the virus started in Wuhan, it doesn’t respect (顾及) nationality. Anybody can be infected,” he said.

Others have also called for greater understanding. “People from Wuhan or Hubei have made even more sacrifices,” TV host Hai Xia said on CCTV News.

Wuhan has been sealed off and many people are unable to return to their hometown. If we discriminate (歧视) against them, it will make things worse. If patients don't go to hospitals for fear of discrimination, the virus could spread to more people. Protecting them is just as important as protecting ourselves.

6 . Future football stars

Football academies were set up by leading football clubs so their coaches could run trials to discover and train talented boys from as young as eight as potential players for their first team.

This means that in Britain there are at least 9,000 boys at any one time attending academies after school who think they are going to be a famous footballer.     1     One eight-year-old was selected for Chelsea Academy and he went from being top of his class at school to being the boy who was messing around at the back. His mother asked him why he wasn’t trying hard at school any more. His reply was that he was going to be a footballer and be rich, so he didn’t need to. In the end, he only lasted a year in the academy.     2     And he wasn’t so discouraged that he never played football again.

    3     Any sport where only a few can get to the top has many talented failures. These people are very good and do their best but finally it will not pay off because they are just not outstanding enough. In football, this effect is big because the number of players chosen by academies is so huge.     4    

This doesn’t put off all the boys who are spotted by the big football clubs and are desperate to join the academies.     5     They get to play as much football as possible. The skills become part of them, as they are with professional players, so they are automatic and the boys don’t have to think about them when they’re on the football field.

We are upon the first anniversary of a shocking killing. Last May, outside of a grocery store in Minnesota, George Floyd — a Black man — was slowly, casually murdered by a White police officer. Floyd's daughter, Gianna, is the same age as you. I know that Floyd certainly didn't choose to “sacrifice”, as one government officer said, his life to the cause of racial justice, leaving her daughter fatherless. Sometimes, when I look at your beautiful face, I think of that little girl and my heart breaks.

My son, you came into my heart almost seven years ago as a gift. You were lucky enough to be born in a country where dreams can come true, so they say, and I hope that this will be the case for you. But you were also born inside Black skin and sadly, that is still a burden to bear in today's America. Every day I pray for strength so that I may help you to carry that burden, make you proud of who you are, and teach you how to face the challenge of racism.

More than anything else, I pray that I will be able to keep you safe. No child should have to know this, but you will meet individuals who will not see you as human because of the color of your skin. Some of them will even be the very people who have promise to protect and serve you, and they can be police.

Since 400 years ago, Black and brown people have been fighting, first for our freedom and now for equality. Our ancestors did not live to see their efforts rewarded, but sometimes something shocking happens will bring change in its wake. Sadly, that something is often the murder of someone who looks like you.

Your father

8 . Narasimha Das is on his way to feed 169,379 hungry children. Das is in charge of a kitchen in Vrindaban. The town is about a three-hour drive from India’s capital, New Delhi. Das gets to work at 3:00 a.m. Thirty workers are already working to make tens of thousands of rounds of bread. It will be brought to 1,516 schools in and around Vrindaban.

A Growing Problem

Going to school is difficult for more than 13 million children in India. They must go to work instead, or go hungry. That’s why India began the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the largest school-lunch program in the world. A free lunch encourages children to come to school and gives them the energy they need for learning. The program began in the 1960s.

The kitchen in Vrindaban is run by the Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is one of the lunch program’s biggest partners. “Just $11.50 can feed one child for an entire year,” said Madhu Sridhar, president of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Lunch Is Served!

The Akshaya Patra food truck arrives at Gopalgarh Primary School. Since the program started, the number of underweight children has gone down. The children get foods they need — as long as they finish what’s on their plates.

9 . CHARITY HONORS SON’S MEMORY

Nonprofit providing gifts to 18 to 39-year-olds is raising memory

RAMONA, Calif. — Before he died from cancer at age 29, Silas River Bennett spent his final months taking photographs of the world around him, emailing friends, buying Christmas gifts for his sisters and encouraging his family to give to the needy. “What was important to him was to have a sense of himself outside of cancer,” said his mom, Lorranie Kerz of Ramona.

Bennett went to the hospital in fall 2007 with severe back pains. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that had spread to his bones. Doctors believed the cancer was environmentally caused, perhaps by exposure to some poisonous gas in the basement where he lived or poisons in the paints he used as a painter.

Kerz said her son was a man with a great sense of humor and a very creative mind. He had an “electric intellect” who loved debating, watching “Jeopardy!” — a game show on TV and telling stories with his photographs. After Bennett died in May 2008, Kerz wanted to honor the creative spirit and generosity of her son, whose nickname was “Sy”. The result was Sy’s Fund, a Romona-based all-volunteer national nonprofit that has fulfilled the wishes of more than 250 people aged 18 to 39 who are battling cancer. Sy’s Fund provides them with small gifts — such as laptops, cameras, guitar lessons, or printers — to lift their spirits and refocus their energies in a positive direction.

The group raises money through three fundraisers each year, such as golf tournaments and 5K races. This year, because of the COVID-19, they’re trying a virtual fundraiser for the first time. After registering online, participants must download the “Let’s Roam” app to their phones to donate. For those who want to apply for a wish grant, visit sysfund.org. The organization is also seeking more volunteer members. For details, email Kerz at lorraine@sysfund.org.

10 . Technology use seems to be the new wave of addiction hitting people of all ages. Its extreme use can be compared to the use of drugs, which is called Plug-in Heroin.

The next time you’re in a crowded public place, look at the people around you. It’s hard to find someone who isn’t glued to the tiny screen, fingers moving at lightning speeds, texting their friends, e-mailing coworkers or listening to music. It may seem ridiculous that someone is that addicted to such a small object. I’ve seen people who seem to be at their wits’ end if their phone or iPad has been taken away, lost or left at home.

Some people may ask, “What’s wrong with technology use? It’s a way for people to communicate.” While this is true, the overuse of technology isn’t always appropriate in certain settings. Schools are becoming stricter about the use of cell phones, iPods and other electronics in classrooms. Various workplaces have signs hanging on their walls warning employees that “Cell phone use is not permitted” or “Cell phones are forbidden”. On the first warning you will be sent home, and on the second warning you will be fired.

Electronics may be a way for people to communicate and stay in touch with each other, but the disadvantages may outweigh the benefits. People are losing the ability to hold face-to-face conversations with others. However, it’s hard to avoid electronics in this day and age because almost everything is turning into an electronic format. Books, originally meant for paper design, are now being transferred to electronic forms. Photo albums, and even yearbooks, can now be viewed via the Internet. With this growing trend, future generations are bound to become even more addicted to technology.

Is there a cure for electronic addiction? Simply turning electronics off for an hour or two a day may help to an extent, but it will not completely rid electronic addiction. There only seems to be one cure left, and it may be the hardest: self control.