By Sabina Marra | Project Assistant
As new Covid variants run rampant worldwide, it is important that we continue our Covid relief program, 1 Million Meals, to help those most vulnerable in India's red light areas.
From September to November 2021, we have been working to provide food, menstrual hygiene products, school supplies and education support to women and children from red-light areas and slums in Delhi, Kolkata, and Bihar.
These women and children were impacted by the Covid pandemic due to loss of livelihood, debt burden of disease and death of a family member. Many children also lost access to education, as schools were closed, and these children do not have phones or laptops or data plans. Some of the women who had transitioned to daily wage business like selling vegetables or running teashops were no longer allowed to do so due the fear of the spread of Covid. They fell into the clutches of moneylenders to keep their families alive or to pay for medical treatment. Some were asked by traffickers to sell their children for food.
Apne Aap has also helped fund the following project startups in an east Delhi slum which is in the Covid red zone of migrant workers:
The children in this area are severely underweight, as per WHO standards, whose growth is monitored by the project in partnership with ICDS. They are in the 'red zone' of the WHO's growth monitoring chart.
The primary school children have been out of school for almost 1.5 years now and their education has taken the worst hit. Specifically, the funds were used to provide meals and education to children during the period of October 2021.
The library funds allow for a children’s section in the existing government library, with the addition of materials like books, pens,paper, and learning activities for children. Academic support is crucial as schools are mostly closed.
The food kiosk will provide meals and a safe space for these vulnerable, malnourishedchildren in Nizamuddin, with the added advantage of their experiencing the local and popular cuisines of Nizamuddin.
Additionally, during the month of October, Apne aap has helped fund a school program while classes were closed in the red-light area of Najafgarh, Delhi. The support helped vulnerable children take classes like mathematics, writing, and social studies; have computer access; pay for hostel fees; and stay out of harms way.
One example is Veena (name changed) who wrote, “We used to find the area very unsafe and would always be fearful of any mishap occurring to us. As we were tired of this, we reached out to and requested Ms. Ruchira -founder of ‘Apne Aap’ Organization- to help us."
We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and new year!
By Nicole Palmetto | Intern
By Praveen | Project leader
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