Saving a village

All the donated furniture was made from cardboard, easily transported and assembled. The five-bed oxygen support centre in Mori caters to the 37 villages in the valley

For a better part of the Coronavirus pandemic, the remote villages in the Upper Tons Valley of Uttarakhand were untouched. While the rest of India was battling the first wave of the infection, here, the locals who rely heavily on tourism and selling agricultural produce, saw their livelihood hit. Not the infection, the valley which is home to 21,000-odd people across 37 villages, was grappling with an economic crisis.

Filmmaker and food researcher Shubhra Chatterji, who divides her time between Mumbai and Uttarakhand, set up a social entrepreneurship business with her husband Anand Sankar in October 2020. The Tons Valley Shop was their attempt to rectify the supply chain disrupted by the national lockdown. They turned to Instagram and WhatsApp to connect the producers directly with urban consumers. "I don't think we had any cases until September [2020]," Chatterji recalls. It was only when the lockdown was relaxed later in the year, that a few stray cases were reported. In April 2021, things took a drastic turn. "We hadn't seen this coming."

All the donated furniture was made from cardboard, easily transported and assembled. The five-bed oxygen support centre in Mori caters to the 37 villages in the valley

On May 4, when Tons Valley, a Himalayan stretch in the northwestern region of Uttarakhand saw its first casualty - a 32-year-old caretaker - the community suffered a major blow.

"Soon after, we heard about entire villages becoming Containment Zones. The biggest shock came recently from Jakhol, the largest village in the region with a population of around 1,200 people. Of the 50 who were tested, 35 emerged positive," says Chatterji. At its peak, the valley was seeing an average of 120 positive cases daily.

Food researcher Shubhra Chatterji and her social entrepreneur husband Anand Sankar, who run a food startup in Uttarakhand, collaborated with the district administration in the Upper Tons Valley to set up a COVID-19 care facility and a 30-bed isolation centre

With the only Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Mori village fumbling to cope, the couple decided to act. "We spoke to the district administration, and they
were more than happy to collaborate. We didn't have trained medical staff, they did. So, it made sense to assist them in setting up an isolation centre."

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A week ago, the team at PHC Mori led by Dr Nitesh Rawat, and Sankar and Chatterji, assembled a five-bedded oxygen support COVID care facility. "We managed to raise money for eight oxygen concentrators," she says. The team is currently also setting up an isolation centre with 30 beds. "The district administration is erecting a pre-fabricated temporary shelter; we have the beds, mattresses, and other equipment ready, and are waiting to move in."

Vijeta Saini, The Punjab Club

When the pandemic decided to infiltrate India's villages, a sorely lacking primary health care system was exposed. While the local administration struggles to keep up, it's the smaller non-profits and social entrepreneurship projects that have risen to the occasion, setting aside their core work to help locals survive the pandemic. According to one report, the tribal-dominated areas of Gadchiroli and Nandurbar in the east of Maharashtra alone have recorded a 267 per cent and 263 per cent increase in deaths compared to last year.

For nearly 32 years, Ahmednagar-based Snehalaya has been supporting women, children and people of the LGBTQiA+ community, affected by HIV and AIDS, human trafficking, sexual violence, and poverty. "But, when there's a pandemic of this scale, we cannot ignore it, because it also affects our targeted groups," says Dr Girish Kulkarni, Snehalaya's founder.

This 40-bed COVID-19 centre in Dasuya, Punjab, caters to the 400-odd villages nearby. The initiative is being supported by The Punjab Club, a youth collective that has been active since the farmer's protest in early December 2020

While in the first lockdown, his team launched Mission Rahat to provide ration to COVID-19-affected residents of slums and villages, the escalating numbers in the second lockdown necessitated a more foolproof plan.

In the last week of March, Kulkarni converted a school for the blind, situated 14 km from Ahmednagar city in the village of Isalak, into a 150-bed isolation centre for asymptomatic patients. "On an average, at least seven to eight people are dying in each village in the region daily. Most of them have not even been tested, let alone receiving medical help." Kulkarni says the rural resident is gripped with fear. Lack of awareness has them believe that if they test positive, they'll be whisked away to a government hospital. "Because of this, they fear visiting the PHC too. They self-medicate until their condition worsens. The isolation centre here has even been accepting entire families for admission, although only one or two members may have tested positive, so that people are in the comfort of familiar faces and don't hesitate to seek professional help."

Rajshri Deshpande and Yashraj Akashi

Two weeks ago, Snehalaya launched a free mobile testing van, which travels between three to four different villages daily offering the Rapid Antigen Test to villagers.
Around 3 km from Isalak is Nimblak village where Snehalaya runs a specialised hospital for HIV patients on a 12-acre campus. "This is now functioning as a COVID hospital for those who need oxygen and ventilator support. We've shifted all our HIV patients into another building temporarily," says Kulkarni. Ahmednagar has had to deal with a double challenge, with rising cases of mucormycosis or Black Fungus. Nashik Division, which includes Ahmednagar and Nashik districts, has seen 576 cases of the fungus, and 23 deaths. "We are aware of so many farmers who have had to sell their land to cover the cost of medication at private hospitals. Some are reeling under heavy debts," says Kulkarni.

Meanwhile, in Punjab, a youth collective run by 20 year-olds, has joined hands with the district authorities to set up a 40-bed COVID centre in Dasuya. The Punjab Club has been active in the area since the farmer's protest in early December. "Many of us were dedicated to the cause, and came together to provide relief for the farmers, like distributing thermals, food and water," says Boston-based Vijeta Saini, core team member. But, as the infections began escalating, the collective decided to channelise its efforts towards COVID relief. During this time, the team with help from social justice cooperative, Project Ekta, launched a 24/7 portal run by Indians and the diaspora across the globe, for COVID-related leads like availability of beds, oxygen cylinders, plasma donations and medicines.

Snehalaya's mobile antigen test van travels to a new set of four villages every day

Saini says that most cases go unreported. "People are simply not getting tested due to the fear of ostracisation. Most villages in Punjab function like a close-knit community, and they survive by being together. So, while they are scared about falling prey to the disease, they don't want to be isolated from this community." When the club reached out to district magistrate and deputy commissioner of Hoshiarpur Apneet Riyat, she suggested that rather than setting up a new centre, they help support an existing one at Dasuya Civil Hospital, where they were creating a 40-bed centre for COVID patients. This Level-II COVID facility, which will be fully operational by May 30, is located on NH 1, and will cater to 400 villagers nearby. "Doctors affiliated to the Government of Punjab will be running the centre, while we will support by providing oxygen cylinders, oxymeters, PPE kits, and take care of the salaries of the medical staff, which includes seven nurses, two cleaners and two ward boys," adds Aayush Sharma, another team member.

The money for it has come from a crowdfunding campaign they are running on Milaap, having met 40 per cent of their target. "We've crossed R10 lakh. It's an ongoing effort that is likely to continue for the next few weeks," says Vedant Bahl, a Boston resident, who is coordinating the funding.

A room at the 150-bed isolation centre set up in a school for the blind by Snehalaya. This caters to asymptomatic patients in Isalak village, 14 km from Ahmednagar

While funds for medical help are critical, without awareness we could lose the COVID battle.

Shripad Konde of Rachana Society for Social Reconstruction has been working in the field of education for decades, and recently his team of volunteers has been touring 60 villages near Pune district, going door to door to discuss how to spot symptoms, and the need for testing and vaccination. "Recently, we set up helpdesks at certain COVID healthcare centres, in order to give information about bed availability, medicines or any government charity scheme that the villagers can benefit from."

Girish Kulkarni, Snehalaya

Rajshri Deshpande, actor and founder of Nabhangan Foundation, an NGO that works in the villages in Marathwada, feels that no planning will help unless it can be sustained over the long term. In an Instagram post, Deshphande recently shared, "[The] last few months were difficult. We needed oxygen cylinders and concentrators... There was shortage in the city so you can imagine how it was for the rural villages. Concentrators are expensive and very difficult to procure." With the help of donors, the NGO was eventually able to help both Vaijapur COVID Centre and the PHC in Manur with oxygen concentrators. This means that locals wouldn't need to travel two hours to hospitals in Aurangabad to find a bed with oxygen.

Having worked in Marathwada for nearly seven years, Deshpande has seen the step-motherly treatment given to the villages. "We only wake up when a calamity strikes. When there is a drought, we suddenly realise how important our rivers are. Everyone is talking about unaccounted deaths in villages, but this has been the case for years. Even in pre-COVID times, we have all witnessed instances where people have died and nobody knows why," she shares. "The effort has to be consistent and sustainable, and the planning and research, thorough."

576
No. of mucormycosis cases reported so far in Nashik and Ahmednagar districts

Connect if you'd like to help

India Shield
https://support.indiashield.in/
Project Revive, led by Indiashield, is helping revive hospitals into COVID centres. "There are four touchpoints for us to cover: One, identifying a hospital, getting a supplier [for medicines, oxygen, infra tech], the third is to rope in the local government and the last is getting donors," says
Yashraj Akashi, who is part
of Indiashield's core team.

Kalap Trust
https://www.kalaptrust.org/covid-2021
The trust is jointly working with the local government to help the healthcare resource-deprived mountainous region of Upper Tons Valley with COVID care. Apart from helping with an emergency COVID-19 centre, a 30-bed isolation facility, they offer langar meals to the medical staff, patients and relatives, and supply ration kits to the 37 villages nearby.

Nabhangan Foundation
https://nabhanganfoundation.org/donate/
While the foundation has been supporting local PHCs and COVID care centres in the Marathwada region, with oxygen cylinders and concentrators, medicines and other COVID relief work, it also focuses on providing solutions that can sustain villages in the long-term. The foundation has also been distributing ration, rebuilding local schools and toilets, creating sustainable houses, and working on rain-water harvesting projects for drought-affected villages.

Snehalaya
https://www.snehalaya.org/
Apart from distributing ration kits, the foundation has converted a school for the blind into a 150-bed isolation centre for asymptomatic patients, and is running another specialised hospital for emergency COVID care. They have also launched a free mobile testing van, which travels between three to four different villages daily
offering the Rapid Antigen Test to villagers.

The Punjab Club and Project Ekta
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/punjabcovidrelief
The two collectives have come together to launch a fundraiser, which will help them operate a Level-II COVID centre at the Civil Hospital in Dasuya, Hoshiarpur, and pay for the support staff there. They are also providing other emergency help all across Punjab, including, delivering oxygen support and food.

Rachana Society for Social Reconstruction
https://rachanasociety.letsendorse.org/donate-page
Volunteers from the foundation have been touring 60 villages near Pune district, creating awareness on how to spot COVID-19 symptoms, and the need for testing and vaccination. They have also set up helpdesks at certain COVID healthcare centres. Apart from this, they've been distributing multi-vitamin tonics and nutritional food packages to villagers, where malnourishment is a major problem.