India, the second most populous country in the world has declared a 21 day national lockdown. There have been many shocking images of millions of migrant workers trying to leave the cities to return to their villages. These daily wage workers have been let go from their jobs. They live from hand to mouth with no savings and now with no work their only option is to return to their rural villages. There is no safety net to help them survive this global catastrophe.
All our Nandri families are being severely impacted by this lockdown and will be in great danger when the Covid Virus hits their villages. They live in very rural areas with little or no medical care and we have seen cities like New York with top rate health care brought to its knees by the number of people very ill and losing their lives. The Indian Government is giving some support but it will not be enough for our families to survive 21 days without work or income.
Nandri is there to help and support our mothers and families through this desperate time. We will support our families financially. Just 1000 rupees (12 euros) per month to each of our mothers will help them survive this unprecedented pandemic. It is important to help our families avoid contracting this disease, especially as they will be particularly vulnerable as there is very little medical care available to them. We have implemented educational programmes in order to teach our families about the importance of hygiene – especially hand washing and to emphasize the importance of social distancing to prevent spread. This disease is new to us all and it is vitally important that our families are informed how to prevent contracting it.
The world is going through an unprecedented pandemic that is devastating countries both rich and poor but the effect that Covid19 will have on our poorer countries is unimaginable. We have seen wealthy Nations with sophisticated health care buckling under this virus. India has a population of 1.3 Billion, of which 360 million live in poverty. This virus does not discriminate on who it infects but the poor are so much more vulnerable. Nandri has already transformed the lives of over 5000 poor Dalit mothers and their families and through out this pandemic we will do everything in our power to protect, support and see our vulnerable families through this desperate time.
We want to thank our donors who make it possible for Nandri to do its work in supporting our mothers and their families. In this extraordinary and very frightening time, a special thanks to you all for helping us to help them. As Nandri means thanks in the Tamil language we would like to say a big “Nandri” to all our donors and supporters.
