By Debadutta Dash | Secretary, Sukarya USA
COVID Aid to Slum Communities
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the lives and livelihoods of the people in India, especially those living in the peri-urban slums who have suffered the most. Around 20% population of India lives in urban slums with limited resources and poor access to healthcare and basic amenities. They are mostly migrant workers who are largely dependent upon daily wages. The 2nd surge of COVID 19 has forced lockdowns resulting in a huge economic crisis and loss of livelihoods. In the absence of work and livelihood, the urban slum population has been facing a huge crisis of food and life essentials.
Since March 2020, here is how Covid-19 has treated our future heroes.
Education interrupted: Coronavirus has kept thousands of children and adolescent girls out of school for well over a year – more than of whom don’t even have access to the internet to avail online classes. Even if they did, 75% of school goers find education via a device a real challenge.
Pushed into extreme poverty: Among the tens of thousands that have slipped into hard times due to corona, there are children who have reduced food on their plates, been taken out of education, forced to work or beg for money, been abandoned or orphaned.
Left alone: Thousands of children have lost either parents or grandparents - to the virus. They all need care and attention. Grief is an all-consuming emotion and according to The Lancet study: “Children losing primary caregivers have higher risks of experiencing mental health problems, physical, emotional and sexual violence, and family poverty.”
The list is heartbreaking. But instead of looking on in despair as Covid wreaks havoc on those to whom we will pass the baton to carve the future, Sukarya has been diligently working along with urban slum localities and addressing their food security and good health.
During the reporting period between May to August 2021:
Sukarya has distributed 1500 dry ration food packs, 1500 nutrition supplement kits, and 1500 hygiene kits to the targeted beneficiaries across the Delhi and Gurgaon slum locations. It has initiated online classes for children and adolescent girls.
There is an enormous need for such services as the chaos of COVID have not settled yet and there has been massive unemployment, loss of livelihood, and uncertainties. The experts have predicted a possible 3rd wave which can even be deadlier than earlier ones.
Get involved - give as much as you can to put their life back on track.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
