Sambhali’s Response to COVID-19

All Sambhali Trust programs have been able to operate normally since spring 2022. This page provides background on how Sambhali responded to the pandemic.

BACKGROUND ON THE COURSE OF THE PANDEMIC IN INDIA 

India initially took some of the strictest measures in the world with a lockdown that began in March 2020. The lockdown was effective in slowing the spread of the virus but caused great economic suffering for the poorest Indians, many of whom were unable to access food, shelter, and other necessities.  The strict measures began to be lifted in May of that year, replaced by efforts to promote social distancing, wearing masks, and hygiene. The number of cases and deaths declined precipitously beginning in the fall of 2020 but began to rise quickly again in mid-February of 2021. In mid-April of 2021, India became the world’s epicenter for the pandemic with a horrific wave of the Delta variant causing massive suffering and death as cases overwhelmed the medical system and the lockdown caused enormous need for food and other necessities.

SAMBHALI TRUST’S RESPONSE TO THE FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19 

Sambhali Trust immediately transformed itself into a highly efficient and effective relief organization reaching desperately poor people living in rural villages in the Thar Desert with food and other essentials, masks, and health information.  CNN published an article and video diary about Sambhali Trust’s relief efforts,  In India’s remote villages, going hungry is as big a fear as catching the coronavirus.  

In the city of Jodhpur, Sambhali Trust led a campaign to encourage mask wearing, distributing masks to those in need, expanded the Nirbhaya project in response to large increases in gender-based violence, and worked to get its regular programs (both urban and rural) back in operation when it was safe to do so. 

SAMBHALI TRUST’S RESPONSE TO THE DELTA WAVE OF COVID-19 

Sambhali Trust worked on multiple fronts to respond to the great increase in cases and subsequent lockdown during the spring of 2021. 

The Trust provided food, masks, medicine, registration for vaccines, and other the emergency care to current and prior participants in Sambhali programs as well as others in need in the cities of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer and the rural Thar Desert. The Sambhali Food Bank reached those who had no means to support themselves because of job loss or the death of family breadwinners.

Psychological counseling was available through the Sambhali hotline to anyone experiencing depression, anxiety, or other impacts of the covid crisis. The Trust also engaged in a public outreach campaign to encourage people to wear masks and supplied free masks made by members of the Graduate Sewing Center.  

During the height of the second waive, the Trust was asked by the local government to provide supplies to an isolation center, a place for those with very serious complications of covid but who could not find beds in the overcrowded hospitals, and to other health facilities. Sambhali Trust provided oxygen tanks, PPE, food, disposable plates, and rented air conditioners as temperatures topped 100° F daily during the height of the second wave.

SAMBHALI U.S.’S RESPONSE 

In April 2020, Sambhali U.S. made an emergency grant to provide necessities to rural families. In August, funds saved from programs that could not be operated because of covid restrictions were reallocated into the production of face masks. And in October, other funds were reallocated to support the expansion of the gender-based violence project and to reopen a rural empowerment center. 

In April 2021, the Sambhali U.S. Board approved an emergency grant to support the covid initiatives described above. 

Thank you for your support.