The spread of coronavirus in India has quickened in the past few months with new cases of Covid-19 and deaths reported every day. The epidemic has expanded its footprint in the country and has affected over 9.39m people (Statista, 2020). It is estimated that by February 2021, 50% of the Indian population will be infected by the virus (Reuters, 2020).
Since the outbreak, Helping Point has been doing extensive work in the community to help people and support them during these difficult times. For example:
Helping Point distributed around 3,000 hot meals to those in need at the start of the pandemic
Over 100 returning migrant workers quarantined safely at the closed St Simon’s School building
Emergency food bags have been distributed to around 1000 families through the outbreak
Grocery items distributed include 8000 kg of rice, 600 kg of wheat flour and many other large quantities of food items
7000 face masks and 60 litres of hand sanitiser have been distributed to the community while creating awareness of how to prevent transmission
Helping Point’s main programmes have been closed since March, but the buildings have remained active throughout the pandemic to run emergency programs. Please see our previous blog posts to learn more.
Few people in Helping Point’s communities have the internet at home, so it has not been possible to arrange online classes for the children. Therefore, every day teachers at St Simon’s School call pupils to check their welfare and advise on their learning. Recently, some pupils who live locally have also been able to attend socially distanced lessons in small numbers at the school.
Meeting the basic community needs of education, food, health and shelter remain the four highest priority areas in 2021. While we are continuing to help people in our communities in India and extend emergency support, we need your help to continue our existing services to meet the ongoing demand.
Our community has faced a very difficult year as so many people rely on daily labour, and the Covid impact on the economy has made each day a challenge. Ever resilient, people are working against the odds to take care of their families. Community recovery is not straightforward, but this Christmas please pray for them and consider giving so that we can strengthen their hands.