Lockdown extended as number of COVID19 cases dramatically rise

This week has seen a considerable spike in COVID19 cases throughout India. In one day there was a record increase of 5,609 new cases. This brings the total number of people infected to 112,000 cases with 3,435 deaths. This is a worryingly large rise since last week. As a result the government has again extended the lockdown until the end of May. Some essential businesses will be allowed to operate. Tamil Nadu, the state where Nandri is situated, also continues to see a high number of new cases. There are now 13,967 people infected with the disease in our region.

Joe, our director in India, delivering vital supplies of rice and basic food necessities

One area that has been identified as an infection hot spot is a food market in Chennai, the capital City of Tamil Nadu State. In fact to date, 2000 cases have been linked to this market. Food markets in India are crowded and bustling affairs, with zero chance of observing social distancing. Koyambedu market is one of the largest in Asia, covering 65 acres in the heart of Chennai. It is the centre of the food supply system to Chennai City and the surrounding areas and as such a vital but now dangerous part of the food chain. Originally the government tried to make the market a safer place but this has not worked. The authorities have now closed the market and relocated vendors in an attempt to halt the rapid and widespread infection rate of the virus.

Nandri has always been aware of the importance of educating our families in order to prevent the spread of COVID19. We appointed staff members to phone our mothers regularly to both instruct them and to also check on how they are doing and whether they are in need. Our mothers in turn then educate the other members of their villages in how to stay safe. An important aspect of educating the families is teaching our children how to stay healthy and maintain good hygiene. We instigated programmes specifically aimed at the children. They are going through a very worrying time in their lives and In order to help them, we have organised drawing competitions and games for them to keep them occupied while at home during the lockdown.

Educational art competition for our children.

We continue to expand our community outreach programmes to feed our mothers and their families and also to visit the neighbouring villages and provide bags of rice, oil and cooked meals to those who are struggling to survive. Nandri is providing a vital link for those who otherwise would be starving and unable to get any aid. Without Nandri’s help, these people Would be in a hopeless situation.

This week we helped two young sisters who had lost their parents and are now living with their elderly grandmother. They were at the point of starving when Nandri heard of their urgent need for food. We delivered rice and other basic necessities that will feed them for a month. We supported more than 700 families in Vellore City with 10 kgs of rice which will feed them for 10 days. The Corona virus has caused great hardship in the large cities. People are in desperate need of food and basic supplies. Nandri literally has been a life saver for these people. We will continue to support them as long as they need our help. Without your help we could not do this life saving work. Nandri to you all for helping us make such a difference in helping our people survive the lockdown and this dreadful pandemic.

Joe delivers life saving aid to two sisters who had neither food nor money

Our children, our future

COVID19 - How vital emergency fund money has aided our families

As the disaster of the COVID19 virus first loomed over India and the entire country was told to remain at home, Nandri realised that our families were going to be severely impacted. Our poor daily wage workers would be unable to earn any money. Faced with the challenge of supporting our mothers and their families through the total lockdown, we managed to raise 40,000 euro to ensure we could help them survive this catastrophe. Many of our loyal sponsors and also new donors, understanding the severity of the impending crisis, have given so generously to Nandri.  Here are some of the many ways this money has helped us to help our mothers and their families and also to aid the wider poverty stricken community in Tamil Nadu.

The COVID19 fund has been invaluable to all our families.  It enabled us to commence many emergency projects to feed, educate and protect our families as well as other very poor villages in our region. Immediate financial aid was distributed to all our families.  Joe, our CEO in India, traveled around 87 villages in Tamil Nadu, distributing 500 rupees for each mother to the leader of the mothers groups. In total we have provided emergency financial aid to 4721 mothers. With this money our mothers will buy 10kg of rice, 1 litre of cooking oil and other essential food items.  This will feed a family of 5 for 10 days. Without this money our families would have gone hungry. If one of the mothers is going through a particularly challenging time, the other mothers in the group will rally round to help her financially.

Nandri has implemented vital education programmes for our mothers and families.  We see knowledge as an important weapon to keep COVID19 at bay. Nandri has provided classes covering social distancing, hand washing instructions and the importance of wearing masks.

We provided masks for our families and also for those in the district working on the front line, who are in contact with the public, such as police, government officials etc. We educated them on the importance of masks to prevent the spread of the virus.  Our people have embraced wearing their masks as the new norm. Our mothers are now making them and sharing with the nearby villages.  

In this time of need, Nandri has extended a helping hand to all.  We set up a mobile food kitchen to visit poverty stricken people, including the Narikuravas, Gypsies from a nearby village who were starving.  We fed them for two days and organised the local government to continue caring for them.  
We are also feeding seven very poor migrant families from Northern India who have been left destitute as they no longer have any work or money. Nandri is supporting these families with vital food items for the last 10 days.

The lockdown has been very effective in stopping the virus spread throughout India and as a result, the government has extended it beyond the initial 3 weeks. We do not know how long these restrictions will be enforced.  As a result our poor families will continue to be severely impacted as they simply cannot earn their daily wages. We will continue to support them and other poor families in our region. We will do everything in our power to help them through this horrendous time.

Close to where Nandri is situated, we have 5 refugee camps where more than 1500 families are living in severe poverty.  These people fled Sri Lanka during the war. Due to the lockdown they are not permitted to leave the camps and have no means to earn money.  Their situation is dire. With further funds Nandri could reach out to these and other desperate communities and provide them with basic food to help them survive this catastrophe. These poverty stricken families are in a hopeless situation.  

Our Nandri families know that we are always there to look after them but these are extraordinary times and Nandri’s resources have been severely stretched. Looking to the future, if the lock down continues and our families cannot work, our mothers will need more money to buy food. Nandri also wants to help other very needy communities in Tamil Nadu, who urgently need our help.  The bottom line is we will need to raise further funds to help us continue our vital work.

As always, we say a very grateful “Nandri” to our sponsors, donors and supporters for helping us to help our mothers and their families and the other very poor communities in Tamil Nadu. Without you we could not do this vital work. Particularly as this time, your financial support is even more invaluable to the Nandri family.

If you would like to contribute to Nandri's ongoing COVID19 relief fund, please donate here: https://www.nandri.org/donate

OUR MOTHERS GROUPS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF COVID19

On 23rd April, India recorded 681 deaths and 21,393 confirmed cases of COVID19.  Tamil Nadu where Nandri is situated, had 18 deaths attributed to the virus. The strict lockdown has been very difficult for our poor rural families but it has been successful in lowering the spread of the disease.  

This week Joe, our CEO in India, delivered Nandri’s financial aid package for the COVID19 crisis to the leader of each of our mothers groups. Our mothers groups are a very important part of the structure of Nandri.  There are 4721 mothers in 268 groups, each one headed up by a leader. Each group has between 15 - 20 members. A mother may decide to set up a group herself and become the leader or a leader is nominated by the other women in a mothers group.  It is looked upon as a very important and responsible position in their villages.

WIth the finance that Nandri has provided to each of our leaders, they will make sure that each mother in their group has enough money to eat and buy the necessities for them and their families.  As he visited all the villages, Joe took the opportunity to remind the leaders of their roles in educating their mothers' group on maintaining social distance and handwashing.

Each of our leaders have risen to the challenge of mentoring their group through the pandemic, as well as monitoring the mothers financial well being in this very difficult time.  The mothers know that their leader is always there, as a representative of the Nandri Family, to help and guide them through this very challenging crisis. 

COVID19 - Nandri helping our families to survive.

Today, India has confirmed nearly 14,000 cases of COVID19 and 452 deaths to date.  Like many countries,  India has a shortage of personal protective equipment in their hospitals. Of course this is vital for the protection of the doctors and nurses on the frontline of fighting the virus. The government is ramping up the manufacturing of necessary equipment as well as COVID19 tests which are also in very short supply. As well as a limited number of tests, so far India only has 111 testing centers to handle a population of 1.3 billion people.  This is grossly inadequate.  The number of critical care hospital beds is also very limited.  This makes Nandri’s mission of limiting the spread of COVID19 amongst our families all the more important.

Our aim at Nandri is to protect and educate our families and as much as possible prevent the spread of the virus in the villages.  We are implementing our education programmes and our mothers have been very receptive in following the guidelines. Our families are wearing masks and also manufacturing them to distribute in their villages. We demonstrated social distancing with one of our mothers groups to emphasize the importance of keeping two meters between yourself and others at all times.

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We continue to monitor the welfare of all our families during this crisis. One woman who needed immediate aid is a widow who has kindly taken in a orphaned child, who had no other relatives to look after her. The widow who lives in a shack in the village, is a very poor daily wage worker who because of the 21 day lockdown had no money to feed herself and the child now in her care. Nandri provided her with rice and money to survive the lockdown. We have promised to support them through this very difficult time. Looking forward, we will also help this woman to keep the child in education so she will grow up to have the opportunity of a better future

Nandri is also providing feeding stations for those who are unable to work during the lockdown. We visited a village of Narikoravas people, nomadic gypsies who make their living by selling handmade goods on the streets. They were extremely grateful to Nandri for the emergency food. We also organised for them to access ongoing government aid.

For all our families, knowing that Nandri is there to help them get through this time of crisis, is a huge source of comfort. We will not let any of our families down and they know that our Nandri Family is there for them as long as they need our support. They are so grateful to us but it is the generosity of our wonderful donors who make our work possible. A heartfelt “Nandri” to you all.

Update on impact of COVID19

Education is a priority. Our hand washing leaflet

India to date has 5865 confirmed cases of COVID19, with Delhi being the worst hit area.  Authorities are worried that Indias healthcare system will not be able to cope as the virus spreads throughout the country.  They are converting sports stadiums and train carriages into make shift hospitals. Tamil Nadu, where Nandri is situated reported a fresh spike of cases and presently the region has 834 people who have contracted the disease. This means that worryingly the area has the second highest number of infections in India.  

Train carriage being converted in to an emergency hospital

Our aim is to try to stop the spread of the virus throughout our Nandri villages by educating our families on the importance of frequent hand washing and social distancing.  As much as the recommended increase and implementation of these rules has been an adjustment to us in first world countries, this is going to be so much harder for our rural families in a 3rd world country who have no access to toilets or running water and live with large families in small dwellings. One of Nandri’s projects is to improve the living standards of their families by helping them to build toilets and have access to clean water.  We are making progress but still have a long way to go.

In rural India the poor rarely have proper sanitation in their villages - defecating in fields is the norm.  They have no access to running water in their homes and have to fetch water daily in buckets from the well to wash hands and rinse cooking utensils. This is why our education programme is so important for our families so that they understand the importance of these new measures to avoid being infected.  We have implemented our programme already, we are also distributing leaflets promoting hand washing and it is being very welcomed by our mothers and their families. The mothers are also making masks for themselves and their families and also giving them to the police and other public figures. 

During the 21 day Government lockdown our mothers will have no income.  We have organised for the immediate distribution of emergency money to each family to help them through this extremely difficult time.  Our mothers do not have access to bank accounts so this means our Nandri staff travelling to all of their villages in order to distribute the emergency funds to them.  This in itself will be a huge undertaking but it is already underway.  This will provide our families with enormous relief, not having to worry how they can afford to feed their children and themselves. 

Dealing with COVID19 is going to be a very frightening time for all our Nandri mothers and their families but we will be there for them in every way possible to help them get though this catastrophe. Without the help of our generous sponsors, none of this would be possible, so on behalf of all our families, thank you - or in the Tamil language, a big “Nandri” to you all.

COVID19 - How Nandri will support our mothers and families through this Global Catastrophe

India, the second most populous country in the world has declared a 21 day national lockdown. There have been many shocking images of millions of migrant workers trying to leave the cities to return to their villages. These daily wage workers have been let go from their jobs. They live from hand to mouth with no savings and now with no work their only option is to return to their rural villages. There is no safety net to help them survive this global catastrophe.

Migrant workers returning to their villages crowd outside a bus station in New Delhi

All our Nandri families are being severely impacted by this lockdown and will be in great danger when the Covid Virus hits their villages. They live in very rural areas with little or no medical care and we have seen cities like New York with top rate health care brought to its knees by the number of people very ill and losing their lives. The Indian Government is giving some support but it will not be enough for our families to survive 21 days without work or income.

Migrant workers and homeless being fed in a New Delhi shelter

Nandri is there to help and support our mothers and families through this desperate time. We will support our families financially. Just 1000 rupees (12 euros) per month to each of our mothers will help them survive this unprecedented pandemic. It is important to help our families avoid contracting this disease, especially as they will be particularly vulnerable as there is very little medical care available to them. We have implemented educational programmes in order to teach our families about the importance of hygiene - especially hand washing and to emphasize the importance of social distancing to prevent spread. This disease is new to us all and it is vitally important that our families are informed how to prevent contracting it.

Some migrant workers have to walk days to return to their villages

The world is going through an unprecedented pandemic that is devastating countries both rich and poor but the effect that Covid19 will have on our poorer countries is unimaginable. We have seen wealthy Nations with sophisticated health care buckling under this virus. India has a population of 1.3 Billion, of which 360 million live in poverty. This virus does not discriminate on who it infects but the poor are so much more vulnerable. Nandri has already transformed the lives of over 5000 poor Dalit mothers and their families and through out this pandemic we will do everything in our power to protect, support and see our vulnerable families through this desperate time.

We want to thank our donors who make it possible for Nandri to do its work in supporting our mothers and their families. In this extraordinary and very frightening time, a special thanks to you all for helping us to help them. As Nandri means thanks in the Tamil language we would like to say a big “Nandri” to all our donors and supporters.

Some of our 5000 mothers who attended Nandri’s annual Conference in January

No Water, No World

This years Annual Mothers Conference was a tremendous success, with over 5000 mothers joining the Directors of Nandri from Ireland to celebrate the mothers achievements in the past year and to look towards what the future holds for Nandri.

And we are off! Toria from Ireland waves the starting flag for the procession

The Theme of this years conference was “No Water, No World”. Nandri appreciates the importance of nurturing our environment for the good of present and future generations. Many of our new projects, such as Tree planting, will embrace this philosophy and through these initiatives we will educate our mothers and in turn their children on the importance of caring for our world

Some of the 5000 mothers marching to the conference

Many special awards were presented to celebrate individual achievements and afterwards the mothers were entertained with songs and dances by local performing groups. The conference is a great opportunity for the mothers to network and learn what other activities various mothers groups are engaged in. The mothers thoroughly enjoyed the day and left with feelings of happiness and pride to be a part of the Nandri family.

Glimpses of Nandri Mothers Conference 2020

Over 5000 Mothers attended the 2020 Conference. It was a wonderful success. Here are some glimpses of the event. More to follow!

Nandri’s Mothers convention

Our Convention for approximately five thousand Nandri Mothers will take place on 25th January. The theme of this years event is “No Water No World”. Nandri is working to build awareness of climate change amongst our mothers and are implementing environmentally friendly projects in our groups, such as planting trees.

The Nandri Convention is a wonderful opportunity for our mothers to get together and share experiences, network and receive awards for their achievements in the past year.

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Celebration of love and Sharing

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Just before Christmas, we had a Celebration of Love and Sharing in the lovely rural village of Sivaji Nagar. In this village we have 600 mothers who are part of our Nandri community. They are very enthusiastic and highly motivated members of our organization. They are delighted to be a part of Nandri and they and their families have benefited in many ways.

The mothers were thrilled to be a part of this happy celebration and so grateful to Nandri for bringing such positive changes to all their lives.

Green lake movement

On Children's Day we started a special project called Green Lake Movement. Each Nandri child planted two trees on the banks of the lake at Indiravanam village. These trees will be nurtured by the children under our guidance. Children who are part of this movement will be given educational support and motivational training and learn the importance of looking after our environment for future generations. They will become leaders of our new initiative to make our lakes more green.

Nandri gives loans to Sri Lankan mothers

In October, Nandri distributed ₹270000 to nine impoverished mothers living in a Sri Lankan refugee camp at Abdullapuram, Vellore.These loans will help the mothers to start a small business and generate income so they can keep their children in education.  Nandri has transformed the future for these deserving families.

Visit by UCDVO students from Ireland

Month of June was a special month in the history of Nandri. The presence and various activities done by the UCDVO from Ireland was the highlight of the month. Through the media, Nandri’s name has become more popular and lots of appreciation from the well wishers really makes Nandri to feel proud of its activities. It is a boost for Nandri to continue its selfless services to the community.

1. Cultural Exchange Visit by UCDVO students from Ireland
   The long waited dream of visiting the students from Ireland has come true on 8th June. The one month cultural exchange visit of UCDVO students along with Nandri Nimh (Person responsible for Social media) from June 8th to July 6th was a memorable event In the life of Nandri. The students were warmly welcomed by the Nandri staff on 8th June in a traditional Indian way. This group of students were supported by some student volunteers from Tiruvannamalai district who were supported by Nandri in perusing their higher studies.
   The following four major activities carried out by the UCDVO students.
   a) Renovation of Government Primary School at Indiravanam village
   b) Starting of Home Work Clubs in the villages
   c) Strengthening of Nandri’s Mothers Groups
   d) Exposure to organic garden.

Training of the leaders of the mother's groups

1. The second phase of training to the leaders of the mothers’ groups was conducted at Kasthampadi village on 14th September. Twenty mothers from14 groups attended the training. The purpose of the training was to motivate the members to follow the system and the procedures evolved by Nandri for its effective functioning. The training was facilitated by Joe and Jerald. The training was mainly focusing on maintaining the account notebook and the individual passbooks. All the formats applying for various financial assistance was clearly explained to them. The members actively participated in the training and they clarified all their doubts in filling the formats. The Chairman urged all the members to create an enabling environment for the overall development of the children.

Mothers’Training at Kasthampadi Village

Status of Home work Clubs

Home work clubs were started by the UCDVO students during their stay last month. The interest shown by the UCDVO students was amazing and as result, we could see that the home work clubs are still very much active. Sr. Deepika was appointed as a Coordinator for these Home Work Clubs and she is visiting the centres along with   Mr. Jerald and encouraging the children. We can see that the children are repeating the songs and the games taught by the UCDVO students.

Name of the centre

Total no. of children

Indiravanam

60

Samathuvapurum

44

Gangapurum

46

Kollapallur

42

New Colony

15

 Children from Home work club at Kollappalur

Nandri supports Kamatchi through Teaching College

Kamatchi and her family live in Udayarkuppam Village. Her two sisters are mentally handicapped and her mother was the sole breadwinner for the family. Following an accident, She was no longer able to work and support them. The family were left in desperate poverty without enough money for food. Kamatchi saw that the only way she could help her family was to continue her education and get a degree and a well payed job. Her ambition was to become a teacher but with no money to go to college or even feed her family, her situation looked hopeless.

Nandri heard of the family’s plight and with their help the poverty stricken family were rehoused to provide suitable accommodation for their special need children. Nandri also organised the finance for Kamatchi’s college course. She is well on her way to becoming an excellent teacher and is so grateful for the help that Nandri has given her and her family. They now have hope for a bright future thanks to Nandri and the generosity of our donors.

Leena continues her degree with the help of Nandri

Leena Therese and her proud father

Leena Therese comes from a poor family in the rural village of Elayankanni. Leena, a bright and hard working student, always achieved top marks in her exams. After completing secondary school, she enrolled in a college to study for a Medical Electronic Engineering degree. She managed despite financial difficulties, to successfully complete two years.

She was heartbroken when due to her Dad becoming very ill, she had to leave college to help support her poverty stricken family.  Leenas career looked like an impossible dream.  Nandri heard of Leenas plight and agreed to pay the next two years of college fees which will enable her to graduate and fulfill her ambition to become a successful Electronic Engineer. With the help of Nandri and the generosity of our donors, Leena Therese will have a secure and successful future and be able to support her family.

Continued Success of our Child Education Programme

Over the last number of years, Nandri has granted a total of 518 ‘Support Higher Education’ loans to children, so they can continue their education to 3rd level. In 2018, 179 children were given life changing financial loans so they could stay in education and achieve a degree leading to a rewarding career. This enables the graduates to support themselves and their families.Nandri recognizes the importance of early education and supporting our very young children. As well as encouraging and enabling our older children to progress to higher education, we also run after school children’s clubs for the younger Dalit boys and girls. To date we have 10 Child resource Centers catering to the needs of our children.When their school day ends they go to the after school clubs. They kick off with some fun traditional games to energize the children before starting their homework. Many of their parents are illiterate and so unable to help their children with completing their homework assignments. One of the many benefits of our children’s clubs is our remedial teachers are always on hand to help them.WIth the wonderful educational support these young boys and girls are receiving from Nandri, we expect to see tremendous success with our children continuing on to 3rd level education and well paid, fulfilling careers. This was something impossible for a child from an untouchable Dalit family until Nandri, with your help changed everything and gave them a bright future.Without the support and donations from all of Nandri’s supporters we could not change these young peoples lives, giving them not just hope, but the practical financial help they need to achieve their goals in life. On behalf of all our children, I would like to say a big thank you!

Update on our sanitation programme.

To date, our sanitation programme has provided a total of 58 families with new toilets for their homes. The toilets are a very basic outdoor construction.  The Indian government will provide 50 per cent towards the cost of building but without a loan from Nandri the families would be unable to afford the balance.It is normal in poor areas of rural India for families to defecate in the fields beside their homes. The loans from Nandri to help build toilets has changed the lives of these impoverished people and given them the opportunity to live cleaner and therefore healthier, more dignified lives.We are continuing to educate our mothers and children about the importance of hygiene to prevent diseases, teaching them to wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs. The children are bringing the lessons they are learning in our Resource Centers home and sharing good hygiene practices amongst the rest of their families!Nandri would like to say a big thank you to our supporters of this project. You are helping us transform the quality of these families lives forever.

Nandri bringing joy to our families at Christmas

Christmas should be a season of happiness and joy but for our poor Dalit mothers, struggling to survive,  this is not the case. This year, we wanted to make Christmas extra special for them. In previous years we gave our mothers sarees but this year our group leaders suggested we give small gifts to celebrate Christmas and recognise our mothers achievements in the past year. It certainly lifted their spirits! They sang and danced and were delighted with the presents they received. The spirit of Christmas and the joy of giving brought happiness to all during our celebrations.