Share
So beautiful to see us coming together and living our shared humanity in these testing times.
Despite the hardships we are facing due to the lockdown, we are all really blessed to be able to take care of ourselves and our loved ones.
There are many who are not in a position to support themselves and the people they love.
“I have five mouths to feed, including kids. I have had no work since the shutdown and do not have any ration left at home for tomorrow. I do not have money to buy more. The last time I had meals was on Thursday. This is the scene in every household,” says a daily wage earner living in the slums.
Lack of food, overcrowding, lack of clean water, poor sanitation, social dependency, shared amenities, larger number of human contacts, low disease immunity of dwellers and limited access to dependent medical facilities make for tremendous speed and size of virus transmission in Mumbai slums.
A Mumbai slum has one toilet per 600-1,200 residents. How do people maintain social distance in such situations? The only way to shower is with water from a bucket that everyone has to share. No soap or hand sanitizer.
Currently, we have served the following slum clusters:
- Dharavi - Rajiv Gandhi Nagar
- Mahim West Chawls / Mahim Kabristan
- Worli Koliwada slums
- Navy Nagar slums - Geeta Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar
- Napean Sea Road Coastal slums - Banganga, JP Nagar, Prem Nagar, Gayatri Nagar, Parvati Nagar, Chaar Bungalow, Asha Nagar
- Vashi/Virar slums
- Parel Migrant labor colonies
- Nala Sopara / Dahisar labour coloine
Based on the needs and availability of funds, we are distributing a combination of the below per family :
- Rice, daal, sugar, oil and salt rations
- Vegetable khichdi (Annamitra)
- Milk and milk products
- Masks – double-layer reusable masks
- Disinfectant soaps
A lot more needs to be done…and the need is immediate.
Every day we have families from nearby slums approach us saying, “No one is helping us. We have run out of our ration.” There are more than 1,000+ nearby slum families seeking help from food to hygiene to medicines. With a heavy heart, we have been able to serve only to the extent of our resources.
The purpose of the campaign is to reach out to as many families as we can in this moment of crisis. The families cannot support themselves. Furthermore, If Mumbai is to contain the Coronavirus, the slums need to be taken care of.
Research at the Centre for Sustainability has explored the implications of the unique social infrastructure of slums in India on the significant role it plays in the spread of Covid-19. The fear is that if the virus spreads through slums – where some 600 million Indians lack regular access to food and clean water – many millions could die.
If Mumbai is to curtail the spread on the pandemic the slums must be served as well as protected.
You can consider contributing to us or to any of the nonprofits doing amazing humanitarian work.
You can also reach out to us on rohan@1smallstep.in to volunteer in other ways such as sourcing vendors, helping in logistics or even sourcing people or organizations we can serve.
The more we spread Karuna (compassion), the more we can contain Corona.
Stay Safe. Stay Sanitized.
You can consider contributing to us or to any of the nonprofits doing amazing humanitarian work.
You can also reach out to us on rohan@1smallstep.in to volunteer in other ways such as sourcing vendors, helping in logistics or even sourcing people or organizations we can serve.
The more we spread Karuna (compassion), the more we can contain Corona.
Stay Safe. Stay Sanitized.
