Costa Rica Priest Sings Public Health Message During Pandemic
2021-05-09
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1A Catholic priest is winning new fans in Costa Rica with a COVID-19 song set to the music of salsa.
2Sergio Valverde is best known for his aid to the poor in the Central American country.
3For the last few Sundays, Valverde has performed his song with a dance in front of Cristo Rey church in San Jose.
4His aim is to get people to wear protective face coverings, or masks, and continue being careful during the pandemic.
5"Without the mask, there's COVID for you, COVID for me," he sang.
6The words are set to the music of the song Sopa de Caracol, or Snail Soup in English.
7The song performed by Honduran group Banda Blanca was very popular in 1991.
8Valverde said he had not even written down the lyrics, or words, of his version of the song.
9He said he was putting the words together as he sang.
10He was surprised to see how popular it became on social media.
11The Catholic priest said, "the issue of COVID is affecting the entire world, there's pain, there's suffering."
12He continued, "I, as a priest, see so many people suffering, sick, in pain, people without work and who are dying of hunger and I wanted to help a little."
13Valverde could not have timed it any better.
14Costa Rica had a record of more than 2,700 new infections in one day recently.
15The intensive care area of its public hospitals are 95 percent full.
16The country has recorded more than 3,200 COVID-19 deaths in total.
17Valverde is known for his work with children left on the streets and giving food to the poor.
18He said he is seeing more in need than ever before during the economic crisis which was worsened by the pandemic.
19Valverde admitted that he has enjoyed the experience.
20He said, "the whole world is so crazy that they looked for another nut."
21I'm Jonathan Evans.
1A Catholic priest is winning new fans in Costa Rica with a COVID-19 song set to the music of salsa. 2Sergio Valverde is best known for his aid to the poor in the Central American country. For the last few Sundays, Valverde has performed his song with a dance in front of Cristo Rey church in San Jose. His aim is to get people to wear protective face coverings, or masks, and continue being careful during the pandemic. 3"Without the mask, there's COVID for you, COVID for me," he sang. The words are set to the music of the song Sopa de Caracol, or Snail Soup in English. The song performed by Honduran group Banda Blanca was very popular in 1991. 4Valverde said he had not even written down the lyrics, or words, of his version of the song. He said he was putting the words together as he sang. He was surprised to see how popular it became on social media. 5The Catholic priest said, "the issue of COVID is affecting the entire world, there's pain, there's suffering." He continued, "I, as a priest, see so many people suffering, sick, in pain, people without work and who are dying of hunger and I wanted to help a little." 6Valverde could not have timed it any better. Costa Rica had a record of more than 2,700 new infections in one day recently. The intensive care area of its public hospitals are 95 percent full. The country has recorded more than 3,200 COVID-19 deaths in total. 7Valverde is known for his work with children left on the streets and giving food to the poor. He said he is seeing more in need than ever before during the economic crisis which was worsened by the pandemic. 8Valverde admitted that he has enjoyed the experience. He said, "the whole world is so crazy that they looked for another nut." 9I'm Jonathan Evans. 10Javier Cordoba reported this story for the Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 11___________________________________________________________ 12Words in This Story 13church - n. a building for public and especially Christian worship 14priest- n. clergy or a person who has the authority to lead or perform ceremonies in some religions and especially in some Christian religions 15salsa - n. a type of popular Latin-American music 16snail- n. a small animal that lives in a shell that it carries on its back, that moves very slowly, and that can live in water or on land 17nut- n. a crazy or strange person