Emergency COVID-19 Relief Efforts
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Milansaar Haat Haru | Connecting Hands
6° ACADEMY FOR WOMEN AND SAPANA VILLAGE SOCIAL IMPACT (SVSI) JOIN HANDS TO PROVIDE THE LOCAL MUSAHAR COMMUNITY IN CHITWAN, NEPAL, WITH MUCH NEEDED FOOD AND HYGIENE PRODUCTS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS.
Musahar communities in Nepal are amongst the most underprivileged and disadvantaged groups who have little opportunities in social, economic and political terms. As they have been minorities from the time they were deemed ‘untouchables’, they have been trapped in a vicious circle of poverty. The Musahar mainly rely on menial jobs and fishing to feed their families. The Musahar communities in Chitwan live in slum conditions with very poor hygiene and infrastructure. The major issues these communities face are illiteracy and poverty. The immediate priority during this COVID-19 Crisis is to provide this community with essential food and hygiene products.
CONNECTING HANDS PROVIDEd SERVICES TO 150 MUSAHAR FAMILIES (6 MEMBERS PER HOUSEHOLD), MAKING UP A TOTAL OF 900 CHILDREN, INFANTS, ADULTS, ELDERLY AND DIFFERENTLY-ABLED PEOPLE.
Connecting Hands has involved a number of the Musahar women to work in the project in setting up and working with SVSI for the food and hygiene service. Some of these women will be our future candidates for the organic soap factory that we plan to set up in Chitwan. By involving some of the Musahar women early on, we will be preparing them for their future training programme and job placement opportunities.
SEPTEMBER 2020
COVID-19 has badly affected Nepal and the Nepali people are suffering terribly. It is still very uncertain when the complete lockdown will end. Together with our local partner Sapana Village Social Impact we try to support where we can despite the lockdown. We have supported food package distribution to many households living in Ratnanagar-7, Chitwan. The food packages contain 20 kg rice, 1 kg lentil beans, 1 litre of vegetable oil, a kilo of salt, 600 grams dried soya balls and 2 masks per family.
APRIL 2020
Debbie and Gita together with the 6° team have started the online fundraising campaign via social media channels.
Funding
6° have raised Euro 15,000 funding necessary.
Project Partnership
6º is partnering with Sapana Village Social Impact (SVSI) for this project. SVSI will run the operation on the ground including food and hygiene product purchasing, product storage, distribution, candidate selection and guidance as well as project management.