The world was the almost welcoming year 2020 when we were hit by the last leg of 2019, COVID-19 no one ever thought that this can cause havoc in the world. My first reaction to it was .what about my travel plans...of-course my travel plans were canceled and as we know today, we are living in a different world ...It's like a parallel world we never faced before and all of a sudden someone just flipped us.
Then the news started flowing about the 21 days lockdown in India and that's when my heart sank, not because India had a huge number of cases back in March but 21 days lockdown means no food for millions of people. Unlike first world countries where the fight is about medical equipment, staff, and hospital beds. India's problem is it's financially lower than the average population and rely on daily wages. Millions of migrants travel across states in search of jobs and were all of a sudden out of job.
For a situation as big as this we can't blame or just rely on the government to take care of the whole population, Because everyone alive today has no experience in preparing for a Pandemic.
Near my home in Lucknow there is a slum where many of these workers stay in their temporary homes, mostly construction workers. All work is now suspended and these people are out of a job, couldn't even return to their villages. As per stats 90% of workers did not get paid during the lockdown and no government help was able to reach them.
https://www.thehindu.com/data/data-96-migrant-workers-did-not-get-rations-from-the-government-90-did-not-receive-wages-during-lockdown-survey/article31384413.ece
Charity is a sacred and personal thing but right now we must spread the goodness and encourage everyone to support as many people they can, Dad and I started with 30 families. We started preparing daily meals and distributing the start of March but very soon we realized that it's not the most efficient way to help people as it was becoming a huge task to fulfill and also a little risky due to close contact for food distribution.
Then we came up with the idea of ration supply, Now every week we pack ration supply for around 60 families and distribute them ...The supply contains a basic essential of Rice, Flour, oil, salt, sugar, lentils, onion, potatoes. Upon calculation, it's about Rs 1300 or $26 Australian dollars to feed a family of 4 for 1 month.
Why we need to help :
Most governments are trying their best to protect people and help them, but a disaster at this scale will shake the system and help won’t be able to reach everyone. This is why we need to help each other and especially help the vulnerable. Pls, keep paying to your workers if you are able to do so as any small gesture can make a big difference.
More and more families are coming to us in desperate help, We are not a registered NGO hence as an extended nomad family and my friends If you wish to join the cause and support as small as 1 family during this tough times, pls get in touch shweta@nomadbyheart.com
Thank you for reading, we are in this together