Give2Asia ramps up support amid India’s second COVID-19 wave

June 7 update: Latest case statistics and geographic coverage

India recently reached a tragic milestone, becoming the first country to record 400,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day. As of today, the country has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world, with more than 28 million confirmed cases and 350,000 deaths.

However, experts believe that the dire figures still don’t paint an accurate picture of the scale of the crisis. With a shortage of ICU beds, oxygen supplies, and even cremation grounds, the country’s health system is under extreme stress. As India grapples with the health crisis, Give2Asia and its partners on the ground continue working to support the most vulnerable and to get help where it’s needed most.

Give2Asia’s coronavirus response began in January 2020. As the crisis escalated, we expanded our campaign to support local nonprofits in 20+ countries. In India, Give2Asia has leaned on its in-country presence to identify more than two dozen nonprofit organizations supporting frontline heath workers and at-risk communities.

The Work of Our In-Country Partners

Our partners in India have strong track records of impactful work in the areas of health, poverty alleviation, and disaster response. As the crisis escalated, they quickly pivoted to address the new challenges brought about by COVID-19.

Some of these organizations and their lifesaving work include:

• Goonj undertakes large-scale disaster relief and rehabilitation work based on their strategy of comprehensive rural development.
• Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) promotes community resilience through practical solutions to improve disaster readiness, response and rehabilitation.
• Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA) empowers women and urban poor communities to be catalysts of change and collaborate with public health systems and health care providers to create sustainable improvements in urban health.
• Gramalaya Trust is working in affected Southern States including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Pondicherry.
• MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child aims to strengthen health systems to reach the last mile.
• The Indian Red Cross – Maharashtra is part of the Indian Red Cross’ network of 700 branches throughout the country. IRCS – Maharashtra operates the Bel-Air Hospital, a general hospital with a facility for 250 beds.
• Save the Children India runs programs in the remotest corners of India and urban areas to provide quality education and healthcare, protection from harm and abuse and life-saving aid during emergencies to children.
• Oxfam India works to support child education, empowering women and fighting against inequality in India.

Families Finding New Livelihoods

Through our partners’ work in India, families in hard-hit communities have been able to meet their basic needs even as lockdowns and social distancing measures have upended daily life, closed businesses, and restricted movement. This includes people like Usha, whose small sewing business lost all their orders when textiles shops were forced to close. With help from Kottayam Social Service Society (KSSS), Usha learned to stitch masks and prepare hygiene materials such as liquid soap. Today, Usha receives bulk orders from hospitals and offices for masks and has even stitched 200 transparent masks for hearing impaired people, like herself and her husband.

Other vulnerable people, most of whom are their families’ breadwinners, have received cash grant support of around Rs 5000 (about $70) from the Indo Global Social Service Society (IGSSS) to create new streams of income to help their families weather the pandemic. This includes women like Alai from Narasinhaguda village, who bought two goats with her grant, and who plans to sell milk and goat kids to boost her family’s income. Similarly, a woman named Salai started a small grocery store from her house to provide for her husband and sons who have been diagnosed as severely malnourished. And Dumuri, from Chanabada village, bought and planted five types of vegetable seeds to sell after her savings were depleted.

Priorities in the coming months

Based on what Give2Asia has learned from 15 months of emergency COVID-19 grant-making across the Asia-Pacific, we have identified the following intervention priorities in India through the remainder of 2021:

• Strengthening and supporting existing government health facilities by providing equipment like oxygen plants/cylinders, pulse oximeters, Thermal infrared guns, spirometers, etc.
• Safeguarding frontline workers with protective gear so that they can protect themselves and continue providing health services to the community.
• Setting up COVID care centers with the involvement of the local community at a public space provided by the community like panchayat bhavan or school buildings. All centers will be set up as per the Government guidelines and will follow protocols.
• Assisting in COVID vaccination drives by creating mass awareness, mobilizing community members, and providing equipment to health institutions (e.g. freezers for vaccine storage)
• Promoting safe behaviors and practices among the community
• Aiding in delivery of medical guidance, medical equipment, and food relief for home-based care of COVID patients.
• Preparing and equipping community health volunteers to deliver home-based care, emergency screening, referrals, and hospitalization support.
• Tele-counseling services to manage mental health issues of the communities arising out of anxiety, fear, loss of loved ones, etc.
• Food and sanitation kit distribution to marginalized households

Geographic Coverage

India is a vast country. To meet the diverse needs in different areas, we work with local grantees with deep roots in the communities they serve. For example:

• In North of India, Give2Asia is supporting CEE – Uttar Pradesh, Mamta Health Institute- Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and RSKS- Rajasthan
• In South of India: Gramalaya, Udhavum Ullangal Public Charitable Trust – Tamil Nadu, KSSS- Kerala, The George Institute – Andhra Pradesh, and Shishu Mandir
• In East India- Oxfam India- Odisha and CINI- West Bengal
• In West India: Sneha, Swasth Foundation, Indian Red Cross Society- Maharashtra, and Nirmaan
• Across India: SEEDS, Goonj, HIV/AIDS Alliance India, Hand in Hand, Save the Children, and Smile Foundation

Give2Asia is connecting thousands of overseas corporate and individual donors with our nonprofit partners in India. Your generous support is what makes this response effort possible.

You can help by donating online to Give2Asia’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for India. For large gifts (via check, bank transfer, or appreciated stock) or corporate giving opportunities, please talk to our international giving team. To learn more about select partners’ program activities, visit our India COVID-19 Response campaign.