A big hello to you all famili wherever you are,

In view of all the different kinds of tragedies going on around us, may we be thankful to God that we are still safe and sound. As we move to the second half of this month, many times we tend to forget to look back and try to fill up what we've missed in life and especially to notice how mysteriously God is working intentionally for us (this is not a homily!)

As you have heard, Tropical Cyclone Tomas battered Fiji last weekend, actually Tomas did not batter the whole of Fiji, but severely done so to the Northern and Northeastern parts of Fiji. The two islands that were severely damaged are Cikobia and Rabi in the north. Indeed Tropical Cyclone Tomas was very powerful with gusts of up to 275 km/h, fortunately for us who are at the south eastern part of Fiji, like Suva, the cyclone was too scared to come close to us. The other hurricane that came in December last year before Christmas, was for us here in Suva worse than Tomas. We lost power in the December hurricane but in this one, only the breadfruits and mango fruits were brought down. Lucky for us, my kids collected about seven supermarket bags of mangoes and we've scraped and frozen them for whenever we want to have 'otai. Unfortunately, the kids have lost three days of school starting from last Friday, when the Cyclone was first alerted, nonetheless the National Youth's Day Holiday which is scheduled for next Monday, has now been cancelled. I am not sure how Fr. 'Ekuasi and his school coped with the cyclone. Possibility of being affected is greater for them as they are a bit up north from us here in Suva, but I think they are not that bad compared to the very islands to the north.

Lastly, I would like to ask you family, especially the priests and nuns, to remember a little girl who is our neighbour in your masses and prayers. Her name is Kamilia. Those who have been to Bundaberg, Kamilia's father is Toa's brother. Kamilia is of Tu'a'ofa's age, and was taken to the hospital last week, and there found out that there are lumps on one of her lungs which made that lung bigger than the other one. Not only that, she hardly eats, and whenever she does, she gives it up. She is now in the USA, accompanied by her mum and baby brother for treatment, as the doctors advised them that nothing further can be done here.

Last but not the least, a big 'ofa atu to Fifita and Tiana on their birthdays this month. Tiana's birthday was on Tuesday 16th of March, that's when Tomas was dancing around our northern islands. That's all for now.

God Bless You All,

Analena