EMERGENCY APPEAL: HELPING DALIT COMMUNITIES IN KERALA DURING COVID-19 CRISIS; LIVE UPDATES
It is with utmost joy and gratitude that we announce that we have reached the $5,000 fundraiser goal, which will go directly to migrant workers & Dalit and Adivasi families supported by RIGHTS-Kerala. Thank you for all of your support.
On July 1, 2020, HfHR volunteers Brandon Juhl and Sravya Tadepalli wrote this piece about RIGHTS in American Kahani.
April 9th: When HfHR visited RIGHTS this winter, Preetha was one of the many women and children we met. Today we received this message from Preetha. RIGHTS is the lifeline for the Dalit and Adivasi communities they serve. She is one of the women that received unconditional cash transfers. We ask each of you to please continue to share and support. Please donate.
April 5th: We received this video update today from RIGHTS, and our hearts go out to our friend Ajay Kumar. They are continuing to meet the nutritional immediate needs of the Dalit and Adivasi communities they serve, and also marginal workers. They have given unconditional cash transfer to 120 Dalit and Adivasi women for their urgent needs. Ajay is very worried about the days to come and the months following the lockdown. Please listen to this 2 minute message from this amazing grassroots leader, and please donate.
APRIL 2: We received this video and these photos from Ajay Kumar today. We have already sent $3,000 and this wonderful grassroots group has sent updates on their daily activities to build over 200 hand-washing stations, provide medicines to over 280 elderly and chronically sick, extend their work to include migrant workers stranded in Kerala, and feed thousands of people who would otherwise starve.
Responding to the unavailability of masks, they have made thousands of masks and distributed them. This was an unexpected and unfunded extra project. Rest assured that your donation will go straight to needy Dalit and Adivasi families and workers. in Kerala. Please donate!
MARCH 31: Today, our friend Ajay Kumar of RIGHTS-Kerala gave us this update, "Since running a kitchen is dangerous during Covid19, our community members including migrant workers can get groceries from the stores near them, and we pay the store directly. Masks are not available on the market and courier services are not functional for friends to send us masks from elsewhere. We are making our own masks today, and tomorrow all our volunteers and staff will have masks for protection." Please donate!
April 14, 2020: Hindus for Human Rights, thanks to the generosity of our dear supporters, raised $5,000 for Dalit and Adivasi families and migrant workers supported by RIGHTS-Kerala. Our support went directly to impacted families and workers, providing critical emergency assistance for the most vulnerable in Kerala during the Covid19 lockdown.
We are so grateful to have been able to help this community, and will deepen our partnership with Ajay Kumar and RIGHTS in the months and years to come. Thank you to everyone who donated.
April 8th: When we received a photo yesterday, showing RIGHTS staffer Deyama handing medicines to a community member suffering anthracosis and diabetes, we asked about better protection for staff when working in the field. Today we received this new photo showing that RIGHTS has taken our concern to heart. RIGHTS continues to provide frontline relief to the Dalit and Advisasi community in Kerala, as well as migrant workers. We have raised $4,000 thanks to your generosity, which is saving lives. Please continue to share and support. Please donate.
April 6th: RIGHTS has started production of cloth masks, which are severely in demand and unavailable. They are supporting 16 Dalit women who have sewing machines. Each woman will produce at least 500 masks a day, and be paid accordingly. They will produce at least 10,000 masks in the next 10 days, to be distributed for free. This is concrete financial support to women to protect community health. Please donate.
April 4th: Today we heard from RIGHTS that things are getting harder. People’s meager savings are depleted and they don’t know how to manage. RIGHTS has received several distress calls from women, and they have given these women cash because they need many items other than food and medicines. Here is a video from a stranded migrant worker helped by RIGHTS. Please Donate.
MARCH 30: RIGHTS has set up 200 hand-washing stations throughout the Dalit-Adivasi colonies and villages where they work, and have a goal of 500. In the past 3 days they have provided medicines to 102 elderly and chronically sick. And today they have opened their first Community Kitchen which will feed 500 people in the next 2 days, while observing physical distancing as much as possible. We heard today from a person that RIGHTS has helped: "My Name is Tinku Monal. I am a migrant worker residing along with 23 others in Kerala for last 4 years. It has now been 11 days we don't have work. Whatever small saving I had, I spent for food. I also borrowed groceries from nearby shop owner and he said he can't give anymore! The Kitchen which RIGHTS has opened will mean I don't starve." Please donate!
Original Appeal, March 27, 2020
The global pandemic COVID-19 (Corona) which affects all of humanity has spread across the globe, but some sections of the society are more disaffected than others. Often, it is the marginalized communities that are forgotten or become an afterthought in the face of existential crisis.
RIGHTS is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2008 by Dalit rights activist Ajay Kumar, to serve communities in Kerala that are the most marginalized, particularly the Dalit and Adivasi community.
Hindus for Human Rights is a human rights advocacy group dedicated to the cause of eradicating the oppressive practice of Caste and we are privileged to partner with RIGHTS in its efforts.
In the midst of the current pandemic, Kerala is one of the worst affected states in India with more than 100,000 people under observation. As of March 27th, 164 of the 716 cases nationally are in Kerala. Of course these numbers are constantly changing. The most disaffected are the Dalit and Adivasi communities who lack even the basic access to hygiene that is crucial in stopping the spread of the virus. If there is an outbreak of the pandemic in these communities, the scale of suffering it would inflict would be beyond human comprehension.
RIGHTS has been working diligently over the past two weeks to avert such a catastrophe. Since the most basic preventive measure is hand-washing, RIGHTS has set up 85 hand-washing stations throughout the Dalit colonies they serve. There are 26,000 Dalit colonies in Kerala, and 68% of Dalits in Kerala live in these colonies. Most people are day laborers, rickshaw pullers and domestic workers, and it is very important that they engage in vigorous and frequent hand-washing. They have trained community members to keep the containers filled with water, and to wash their hands thoroughly according to WHO recommendations.
RIGHTS has a three part intervention strategy to protect the Dalit and Adivasi community they serve during this terrifying Coronavirus Pandemic:
Place at least 500 more hand-washing stations in the Dalit colonies where RIGHTS works to educate children and empower women and families.
— Each station costs about $10 to set up, and hundreds more such stations are needed to arrest the spread of the virus.
Ensure that the elderly, the frail, and those with chronic health conditions receive the medicines and healthcare they need to stay alive during this pandemic.
—$100 would cover medicines for one elderly person for a month, or a chronically sick person for two weeks
Ensure that every family has enough food to survive. While the Kerala government has promised that everyone will receive food rations to their doorstep during the Pandemic, RIGHTS knows that the marginalized communities they serve are overwhelmingly likely to be overlooked.
— Dry rations for a Colony (or twelve families) costs $500
RIGHTS and Hindus for Human Rights appeal in unison for emergency contributions toward this three-part effort which will go a long way in saving lives and safeguarding the health of the most disadvantaged communities in Kerala.
—PEOPLE IN INDIA can donate directly to RIGHTS through this campaign we created at Milaap.
—PEOPLE OUTSIDE INDIA can donate to Hindus for Human Rights. Americans, your donation is 100% tax deductible. We will ensure that your entire donation directly reaches families served by RIGHTS, and we will provide regular updates.
Please donate generously to support Dalit and Adivasi families in Kerala, served by our partner organization RIGHTS, as they try to survive the Coronavirus Pandemic. The need is urgent and every little but helps. Please indicate that your donation is for the FAMILIES SUPPORTED BY RIGHTS.