The scope of starvation during COVID-19 lock-down is worse than we thought

Thousands of people in remote rural villages of Maharashtra, India, are on the verge of starvation as a result of the COVID-19 lock-down, a new study on the issue has found. A GPM survey of 80,000 residents of the taluka/district of Mokhada found 2,250 families – 12.5% of the population – are living in immediate dire threat of starvation due to the conditions of lock-down. This is primarily a result of extended periods of having no livelihood due to being lock-down.

The study was conducted by GPM staff over a ten-day period in May among farmers in the Mokhada region, most of whom are from the Katkari tribe. 

Following the alarming findings of the survey, GPM reached out to several foundations and corporations to establish partnership initiatives to address this urgent life-threatening situation. As a result, the following responses have been initiated: 

• Providing basic supplies. Sir Ness Wadia Foundation supplied GPM with basic groceries and supplies for an initial 350 families – such as lentils, rice, beans, pules, flour, jaggery, and oil—which GPM has been distributing.

• Adopting families. JM Financials has agreed to adopt an initial 50 families from the list of needy families in villages surveyed by GPM, covering five village hamlets, and is directly providing them with their needs. The Goonj Foundation has also adopted an initial pilot of 10 families and is providing for them directly. 

• Protecting from COVID-19. The Godrej Group has provided 18,000 bars of soap which has been distributed, along with face masks that the GPM women’s empowerment collective has produced. 

This ongoing emergency COVID-19 relief project has been made possible thanks to the generous support from the following friends: 

• The Good People Fund
• Righteous Crowd
• Estelle Friedman Gervis Charitable Foundation
• OLAM
• Sundara Fund
• And other generous anonymous sources

And the support of so many donors and friends who simply want to alleviate the suffering of those most vulnerable during the pandemic.

You can read more about our COVID-19 emergency relief work HERE

GPM women's sewing collective prevents the spread of COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world the widespread lock-downs are having devastating effects on communities in the slums and under-served villages; and the damage is extensive in low-resource communities throughout India.

Government regulations require all citizens to wear face-masks to prevent the spread of the virus in the hope that this step, along with social distancing, will curtail the spread of COVID-19.

Last year Gabriel Project Mumbai, with the support of the Good People Fund, started a woman’s sewing collective - called Tribal Threads - for women living in slums and remote tribal villages. These women receive livelihood for their sewing skills; empowering themselves economically while looking after their families and community.

As the COVID-19 pandemic started we transported all of our sewing machines to the homes of the women who are under general lock-down. Then our team tried several face-mask designs and created awesome durable washable cloth face-masks for adults and children.

15 women in 3 rural villages and 1 urban slum started sewing these face-masks and so far we have distributed thousands of face-masks to COVID-19 designated rural government hospitals, medical staff at primary health care centers, the police force and hundreds of people living poverty stricken communities.

The women are in the process of sewing 14,000 face masks in the next 6 weeks including a 6,000-unit order to supply an entire district police force and medical support personnel who are at the front-lines of the battle against the spread of COVID-19.

We are happy that our efforts are saving lives and supporting the families of the women’s collective during these trying times.

Enjoy this clip of the women of Tribal Threads while they make a face- mask every five minutes!