By Golie Jansen, Board Member
Homeless woman in Dhobichaur receiving CCF COVID-19 food relief
Introduction
I am a relatively new board member of the Conscious Connection Foundation, although I have known about and followed their work for a long time. I have always been impressed by CCF’s philosophy of capacity building, especially with women and girls. Most of the programs of CCF are long term, and build upon work in Nepal over the last 30 years.
At one of our last board meetings in June, our partner in Nepal, Kesang Yudron, in Kathmandu wrote us an overview of the effects of the new coronavirus pandemic in Nepal: no fertilizers, vegetable shortages, mass return of migrant workers, suicides rising, problems with testing, day laborers out of work, diseases, deaths and hunger, and more hunger among the most vulnerable populations!
It affected me more than I thought it would, perhaps because I realized the poorest of the poor are always immediately the hardest hit. I also sadly realized that Nepal is only one country of many in the world that is going through such hardships.
CCF’s goal is to create resilient communities in Nepal by empowering women through education and healthcare. But, as it was after the 2015 earthquake and now with the COVID-19 pandemic, CCF once again finds itself in a unique position to step up and take action in the face of overwhelming odds. Because of our strong community of support in the United States, and because we have a dedicated team of young Nepali leaders ready to take on the challenge, we at CCF have decided to start fundraising for emergency relief once again. I am writing this blog in the hope that you, like me, will donate to this effort.
Like the rest of the world, Nepal has suffered tragically from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 20, there were 17,844 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Since April, CCF has been closely involved with helping to alleviate the need for food for vulnerable groups of people most affected.
This blog will highlight some of the most distressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is by no means complete. After a general overview and some specific topics, it will describe the ways CCF has helped identify and fund locally led efforts to help some of the most vulnerable and least visible communities in different parts of Nepal.
Overview
The government of Nepal announced a country-wide lockdown on March 24 to limit the increase of COVID-19 infections. This brought great hardship to the most vulnerable, especially women and children. Many hold day jobs, and immediately lost pay, while remittances from relatives in India and the Middle East also stopped. The lockdown was eased on June 14, which resulted in an enormous movement of people across the country and a large spike in COVID-19 cases. Kesang Yudron wrote on July 3 in one of her emails:
“There is a partial lockdown till July 28, which will probably be extended with 400-500 new COVID-19 cases every day. Schools are still shut and the government does not have a definite plan when schools will open. Thousands of people from taxi drivers to youth groups are protesting on the streets to be allowed to work and wanting more PCR testing and an effective COVID-19 plan. Up until now there are more people dying of suicide and hunger than COVID-19 related deaths.”
Members of youth groups in Kathmandu, have protested, demanding better quarantine facilities, more testing and greater transparency in purchasing medical supplies (The Hindu, June 13, 2020).
Return of Migrant Workers from India and the Middle East
About 3.5 million Nepalis work and live abroad. Of these, about 2 million work in India and others in 14 countries in the Gulf countries (e.g. Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman). Many also work in Malaysia. It is reported that in Qatar alone, 400,000 Nepalese migrant workers live and work mainly in construction and as domestic laborers. Unlike France and the UK, Nepal did not send planes to bring workers home, and has only recently started to repatriate them.
Many poor Nepali families rely on remittances. More than $8.1 billion remittances are sent home, contributing close to 25% percent of the country's $30 billion gross domestic product (GDP). Nepal is the fifth highest remittance country in the world.
When India announced a strict lockdown on March 25, many Nepalese workers on work visas there lost their jobs. Approximately 580,000 Nepalis stranded in India are returning home. Some walked for days to find a bus, van, or truck to get to the border. Many found informal channels to enter the country. Nepal closed the border with India on March 22, and only in late May were people allowed to cross. The situation is dire at many border crossings. At some crossings, 2,000 people arrive every day, often without food and water after having traveled for days in India. They are regularly denied any relief. After being held in quarantine centers on the border in horrendous conditions and long waits for results of testing, these workers are then transported to their home districts, where they are quarantined in camps in unhealthy conditions, with no, or scant, basic services like food, water, toilets or medical care.
Complications with Testing
Nepal has been plagued by substandard testing, which may have increased the infection rates. The majority of tests for the new coronavirus throughout Nepal have been Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT). So far, over 233,000 RDT tests have been conducted to detect antibodies. The Nepal Health Research Council found RDT tests only reliable 50% of the time. This might mean that thousands of people sent home from quarantine could have had false results. The World Health Organization does not recommend the use of rapid diagnostic tests for patient care.
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests are more reliable, but the test kits supplied by the Ministry of Health and Population are incompatible with the testing machines in different labs in the country. Many PCR hospital labs had to close, which delayed testing of thousands of people. People in quarantine facilities in Rautahat waged a protest against delays of a week or longer to receive PCR test results. They blocked roads and threw stones at security personnel. Police fired in the air and used dozens of rounds of tear gas.
Daily wage workers are more worried about starving to death than Covid-19
Many poor people are daily wage workers, who have lost their job and therefore face enormous hardships. Their living environments do not facilitate conditions that minimize transmission of the virus. They live in cramped squatter settlements, where many households share water taps and toilets, which increases the chance of infections. Remaining indoors as the lockdown mandates is impossible, due to the heat in the shacks they live in. In Kathmandu alone, there are around 29,000 squatters faced with this new reality. One of the daily wage workers stated: “Rich people have managed to store food and can now spend some time at home with their families. It’s like a vacation for them. But for working class people like us, if this situation prolongs, we will die of hunger.” (Kathmandu Post, 3-30-2020). The government so far does not seem to have a plan to support these workers.
Economy and Employment
After the earthquake of 2015, Nepal planned to achieve a growth of 9.6% (The Diplomat, 4-15- 2020). However, the latest projections (Kathmandu Post, 5-3-2020) are that GDP will fall to 2.3 %—much lower than the 7.2% that was achieved pre-COVID-19. This contraction has affected mostly migrant workers and the poor. Nepal’s estimated unemployment rate is currently 11.4%. The influx of millions of migrant workers back to their villages without money, food or employment, and the loss of employment of resident Nepalis, could cause a severe economic downturn. A World Bank country economist for Nepal stated: “About 31.2% of the population estimated to live just above the poverty line risk falling into extreme poverty, primarily due to lower remittances, foregone earning of potential migrants, job losses in the informal sector, and higher prices for essential commodities due to the lockdown.” (Al Jazeera, 6-9-2020)
The main tourist road in KTM lies empty during COVID-19.
Agriculture
Before the COVID-19 pandemic agricultural output was already threatened by a late monsoon, shortage of fertilizers, and use of substandard seeds. The pandemic has only exacerbated this situation. Fertilizers needed for rice paddy plantations have been stuck in India for months. Vegetable shortages in the mid-hill districts have hiked the prices between 30-60% since lockdown.
Mental Health: Suicides
People who experience mental health problems in Nepal are often stigmatized, therefore people may not share their problems, and suicide becomes their ultimate solution. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health concerns as people experience more anxiety and depression about job losses, fear of getting the virus, and lack of food. Children are home from school and living conditions for many families are less than adequate. Since the nationwide lockdown, suicide cases in Nepal increased by 20% and mental health experts warn of a “grim situation.” In the first month of the lockdown, a total of 487 people died by suicide as compared with 400 per month before the lockdown (Republica, May 21,2020).
Poor Women are the Most Vulnerable
CCF COVID-19 food recipient in Saptari Nepal
Women disproportionately suffer the consequences of the pandemic. Luna K.C., an independent Nepali researcher warns that the pandemic will worsen existing inequality of women in education, income and employment. COVID-19 has eliminated many jobs mainly filled by women, creating economic insecurity, while many may not regain their jobs after the pandemic is over, as finding work is harder for women than for men. In terms of education, the COVID-19 crisis may cause a higher drop-out rate for girls, who may not return to school afterwards.
CCF’s Approach to Helping the Most Vulnerable: Immediate Food Relief
Nepal's situation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic is incredibly difficult and filled with huge uncertainty. CCF recognizes the immensity of the challenge and understands that although we are small, we have such good contacts that we have to respond in order to relieve what suffering we can.
CCF's work centers on women and girls and the most marginalized in Nepal and is based in long-term trusted relationships. That is what makes us so effective. In early April, our partner, Kesang Yudron, reached out and identified contacts with local Nepali-led NGO’s that were truly helping women & children and marginalized communities in desperate need. Consequently, as soon as Nepal mandated a lockdown, Kesang received many requests from NGO’s to help with food relief.
Lacking Government Support
As of the writing of this blog, no government food relief is happening anymore. From April through June, with Kesang’s guidance, CCF was able to distribute $5000 to small local NGOs to be used directly for immediate food relief. We also were able to deliver 400 reusable menstrual kits, soap, and masks to women who needed them but could not afford them. Although our reach is not huge, our impact has been targeted and effective, helping those who would otherwise fall through the cracks survive.
CCF Response
Two Food Relief Distributions in Saptari
On May 30 and again in June, Kesang was able to connect with a leader of a local NGO in Saptari, Nepal, along the border of India. With CCF funds, the NGO was able to purchase and distribute 25kg of rice, 3 kg of dal and salt to 41 households. All of these families were facing starvation and in the words of one of the organizers of this food distribution “CCF has helped people saved from hunger.”
CCF was able to provide a second grant in June to help provide food for 1300 Mushar families (our grant was combined with others) who have been discriminated against for centuries and are considered the lowest caste of the Dalit groups in Nepal. Many of these families are led by women who have no land and whose husbands work abroad in India as day laborers and so have no income to send.
The Hiteri Foundation
Distributing food and reusable menstrual kits (faces blurred by request)
The Hiteri Foundation has been actively distributing food to those in dire need since the lockdown started. CCF, through Kesang, initially funded the distribution of enough food for two weeks to 30 families who had no resources. When it was discovered that women and girls were also in need of menstrual supplies, CCF donated 200 kits that had already been made for our Menstrual Hygiene training program (which is in a holding pattern due to the pandemic), so that women would not have to worry about their periods. Since the initial donation to Hiteri, CCF has donated more funding, and with combined donations, Hiteri was able to provide food and menstrual supplies for 120 families in need at the Jana Uddhar Secondary School in Bunahilkantha. We have also funded the production of Nepali made masks and soap for these families and those are being distributed with the food and menstrual supplies.
Aid to Day Laborers in Dhobichaur Municipalities
Dhobichaur COVID-19 Relief Food distribution
Kesang, Pemala, Chunta and crew were able to purchase food wholesale and are true heroines! They bagged up and distributed food to 62 families who had run out of food because they rely on day labor wages. The family of rickshaw drivers, widows and many others were so grateful for their heroic efforts. They learned a lot and became connected with the municipal authorities so that they can do more in the future and be even more effective.
Fatima Foundation
CCF’s most recent contribution was to the Fatima Foundation in Nepal. Kesang connected with the founder of this group, Muhammadi Saddiqui, who has been working to protect Muslim and Madeshi women and children’s human rights in Southern Nepal through her foundation. She has been conducting programs on domestic violence as well as providing women with education and skills training. With CCF’s funding they were able to provide COVID-19 food relief to 91 of these women and their families because they are in desperate need and have few resources.
CCF COVID-19 Food Distribution in Partnership Mitini Nepalgunj, June 2020
In June, CCF also partnered with Mitini, a prominent Nepali NGO that works with the LBGTQ community in Kathmandu. Because transgender communities, in particular, already face severe social discrimination before the pandemic, they have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, falling through the cracks of whatever aid is earmarked for the general public. A group of 30 trans women reached out to CCF directly sharing that they had access to some food, but lacked the funds to buy cooking oil. With the support of CCF, $12.80 per person was spent to buy this necessary supplement for these women. They were extremely relieved to be able to cook meals and all expressed interest in continuing this partnership into the future.
Because transgender communities are often among the most vulnerable and marginalized, these women have requested we not show their photographs.
Call to Action
We all have a responsibility to understand how this pandemic affects the most vulnerable in our society and around the world. There are many parallel circumstances in the US and Nepal as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Like in Nepal, many people in the US who are disenfranchised and live on the margins of society—living paycheck to paycheck, suffering from poverty, from job loss, lack of adequate health care, homelessness, chronic disease, etc.—are falling through the cracks. The Providence Organization estimates that the number of households affected by food insecurity in the US has doubled since the pandemic started and that over 34 percent of households with a child 18 and under are food insecure. Everyone has watched television scenes of enormously long lines of cars waiting to receive food from a food bank. The suffering among those affected is high.
Additionally, the US government has passed a relief program, the Paycheck Protection Program, that has made it possible, especially for small businesses to receive bank loans with the goal not to fire employees. Further unemployment benefits ($600) for a limited time were available for many workers, including gig workers, and a direct payment of $1,200 to individuals under a certain income level, helped many people to lessen the impact of the coronavirus.
None of these supports have been available to people in need in Nepal. We all have to reach out where we can. CCF, at this moment is well poised to do effective relief work in Nepal and so that is what we will do. We can feed a family of four for a month on about $30. It doesn’t take much, but it will help us all through these hard times. The need for food relief for the most vulnerable in Nepal is urgent and we hope that you find it in your heart to make a generous donation!
With thanks to Kesang Yudron for providing most of the resources, and Peter Gill for checking accuracy, Sarah Conover for editing, and Denise Attwood for much information and insight.