The Coronavirus continues to run rampant in India. The numbers have continued to go up dramatically even though the entire country has been in a complete lockdown. In spite of that, the government is lifting the shutdown in most areas of the country. However, in Tamilnadu—particularly in the area of Kanchipuram—because of the rapid rise of contagion, the shutdown has been extended until June 30.
The hospital system in India is overwhelmed and many people who are very sick are not able to obtain lifesaving treatment, consequently, the death toll is very high.
We are very relieved and grateful to report that, up to this point, we have not had a single case of COVID in any of the leprosy colonies that we serve. This is a huge blessing! We are, of course, praying that this continues.
The lockdown has come with its own challenges. Due to the limited allowed movement, it has been very difficult for people to obtain sufficient food or medicine. The economy has been particularly hard hit with more than 100 million people losing their jobs.
Once we learned of the starvation that the members of the colonies were facing, Rising Star Outreach sprang into action. To date, we have supplied basic food and medicine to 176 colonies spread over nine states of India! We have delivered this assistance with the help of a number of partners who have rallied to the cause. Some have provided us with free transportation, the assessment of need, communication, and the actual delivery of the life-saving packets.
Even our students have come together in many places to help us create these packets of food and medicine. It’s been really neat to see them rising to this challenge. It makes me happy to know that they want to do everything possible to help. They have learned their lessons of taking action and empowerment quite well! Altogether, we have reached close to 50,000 people!
We are preparing to give a second round of food to the colonies in both Tamilnadu and Bihar. Both areas have seen very high contagion rates and so are subject to a continuing lockdown.
We’ve been so gratified for the many people who have generously rallied to this cause! Without their tremendous support, none of this would have been possible.
Schools will likely continue to be shut down until the end of the year. For this reason, we are purchasing 75 tablets. We will give each colony where we have students from our school, access to one of these tablets, along with a hotspot, so that they can continue their studies online during the shutdown.
Our teachers have been very busy working with our students online, as well as preparing for the following school year which begins this month. Each teacher is also working to keep WhatsApp chat groups going with all their students so that we can stay connected to the needs of their families.
These are crazy times!! We are so grateful for all of our sponsors!! In spite of tremendous job losses here in the United States, we have been particularly blessed to have our sponsors hanging in there with us. It’s been remarkable!! Our heartfelt thanks goes out to each one of you!
Gratefully,
Becky
