We are delighted to announce that our GoFundMe page for the Bhopal’s Community Shield campaign is now live! If you’d like to learn more about the campaign and support our efforts to protect survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster from Covid-19 please do take a look:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bhopals-community-shield-covid19-response
The Current Situation
More than three-quarters of coronavirus fatalities in Bhopal were exposed to the Union Carbide Chemical leak in 1984
– The Telegraph, June 24th
On the day of Bhopal’s first Covid-19 death some of the poorest people on earth, lacking adequate protective equipment, testing kits, financial or other resources agreed a demanding and dangerous plan of action designed to monitor and suppress the spread of the virus within their own communities. In the areas in which our teams are operating, weeks of shoe-leather and shoestring work, linking scores of volunteers with our experienced community health team has so far limited COVID-19 to only three positive cases, and no deaths.
The pandemic is engulfing India, now the 3rd worst affected country in the world. Daily cases are rising at a staggering rate, and fears are being realised. ‘More than three-quarters of coronavirus fatalities in Bhopal’ the Telegraph reported on June 24th ‘were exposed to the Union Carbide chemical leak in 1984.’
Our Community Shield has successfully protected 15 of the city’s most vulnerable communities. Now our work is expanding into neighbourhoods in which tens of thousands more gravely at-risk people live. Families here are already grieving for loved ones taken by COVID-19. Our Health Workers are rallying 180 local volunteers to educate, monitor, protect and get treatment for those in urgent danger.
What We Need
Community Health teams are an essential part of the primary care program we’ve been delivering for decades through our two clinics, Sambhavna and Chingari. Many of our staff are survivors themselves. Our coronavirus program has already safeguarded thousands of vulnerable people at a cost of pennies per person — but this could change in a breath. Here’s how you could help:
£2.50 – pays a Community Health Worker’s expenses for a month
£200 – pays a Community Health Worker’s salary for a month
£1,200 – pays a Community Health Worker’s Salary for 6 months
£7,200 – pays a doctor’s salary for an entire year
£9,720 – pays for our team of 8 Community Health professionals for 6 months
£11,125 – runs the Chingari Children’s Rehabilitation Centre for one month
£26,922 – runs the Sambhavna Trust Clinic for one month
We hope you will consider supporting our campaign and the incredible work our staff and community volunteers continue to do on a daily basis to protect the vulnerable from Covid-19.
