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Let’s begin by feeding poor patients and their attendants outside hospitals

India is ranked at the 103rd position among 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index. India is among the 45 countries that have serious level of hunger.

Can we, as citizens of India, make our own efforts to fight against huger so that we stop feeling ashamed of this ranking? HAI provides that platform to the Indian citizens willing to satiate hunger of the less privileged.

The HAI campaign against hunger starts from the GTB Hospital, Delhi. Thousands of people, mostly from the rural parts, come to Delhi everyday looking for better medical care of their family members, relatives and friends. Many of them are too resource poor to look after their own needs while seeking best medical care for their patients.

HAI campaign will start with such patients and their attendants who will be provided nutritious food. With an amount of Rs 3,100 over 150 people could be fed with healthy and nutritious food.

Would you join the campaign to feed hungry souls?

Please do join our efforts. As the resources grow, our operational coverage would also expand to cover as many hungry people as possible. We look forward to your support.

Here are some images of our team in action on the ground.

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Heavy rains impacted northern parts of the country, which highly affected the most of the part of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday, i.e., 18 August 2019.

In Uttarakhand state, Uttarkashi district has faced heavy rainfall, cloudburst and massive flash floods in Mori Block. Ten villages in Aarakot area of the Mori block are amongst the worst affected. More than 15 people have lost their lives. Many more, in Makudi, Aarakot, Tikochi & Sanail villages, have lost their houses, properties, cowshed and animals. There has been extensive damage to the public infrastructure.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police, ITBP and representative of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) are conducting the search & rescue operation in the affected villages. The rescue team has recovered 12 dead bodies till now and also searching for 21 missing people.

Current Situation Uttarakhand

Affected families are facing following major problems at this time:

• Shelter, food, clothing, light, utensils and blanket.
• School kit – uniform, books, notebooks, bag
• Drinking water, Sanitation & Hygiene
• Rehabilitation & reconstruction

Immediate Action required for Uttarakhand

• Temporary shelter for 85 families
• Relief kit of food and non-food items for 85 families
• Kitchen kit for 85 families
• School Kit (bag, uniform, books, notebooks etc. for 200 children

Long-term action required

• Support to affected families for permanent shelter for 85 families
• Disaster preparedness planning, training, and awareness campaign at school and village level including mock drill exercises
• Restoration of water schemes
• Restoration of irrigation canal
• Restoration of school building
• Construction of community centre/safe place

Budget: Approx. 20 lakh (only immediate relief and early recovery phase)

Facing religious persecution in Pakistan, the tiny Hindu community has been fleeing Pakistan since the time of the partition, seeking refuge in India. Pakistani Hindus emigrate from Pakistan each year to escape discrimination, denial of equal development rights, violation of human rights and forced conversions.

The Government of India has administrative arrangements for Pakistani Hindus; they may obtain long-stay visas but they are not considered as refugees by the government.

There are almost 400 Pakistani Hindu refugee settlements scattered around India. Delhi and Jodhpur have one of the maximum numbers of the refugee population that have arrived in the last two decades.

HAI has been operational in the Majnu ka Tila camp, Delhi since 2018 and the Signature bridge camp since 2019, covering the entire population of approximately 230 families.

HAI is working on health, education, livelihoods, basic amenities and legal assistance to the refugee families in the camp.

Major problems faced by Pak-Hindu refugees in Delhi camps

Living in makeshift camps is not easy. These migrants who came to India to live a dignified life face a number of difficulties, even with the necessities.

Basic amenities

The refugee camps do not have proper bathing infrastructures. There is a lack of waste collection and disposal system. Poor drinking water quality poses constant health risk.

Majnu ka Tila has 16 community toilets, Signature bridge camp has none compelling the people for open defecation. There is also lack of communal handwashing stations.

Both camps lack electricity.

Education

Anganwadi services are not available in Signature bridge camp. Therefore, children below 6 years are unable to receive pre-school education and its associated services such as mid-day meal, vaccination, growth monitoring and regular health check-ups.

The problem doesn’t end here. Refugee children also face difficulties in getting admission at public schools due to lack of Indian identity documents. In addition to that, banks refuse to open accounts for some of the children, preventing them from enrolling in school and receiving benefits such as uniform/book allowance.

Protection remains a concern for children since they have to walk through the forest to reach schools. There is also lack of awareness and unwillingness among some refugee parents as they do not allow their girls reaching the puberty age to attend formal schools.

Lack of transportation to the closest schools is the major reason for absenteeism in school.

Health

There are cases of malnutrition among refugee children. Lack of access to clean water leads to health issues such as kidney stones and skin infections. ASHA workers do not visit camps regularly.

There is also lack of awareness on health and hygiene among the refugee population and poor water, hygiene and sanitation conditions in the refugee camps makes it even worse.

Lack of waste collection and disposal system within the camps, further poses health risks

How HAI is helping Hindu refugees from Pakistan in Delhi

We have been working with these refugees since 2018. It has given us an insight into the lives and conditions of the refugee population. Here’s what we are doing and will continue to do to help people living in Majnu ka Tila and Signature Bridge Camps.

Improve the basic amenities scenario

Infrastructure improvement in the refugee camps has been our main priority. We have helped in constructing additional toilets and improved water supply in Majnu ka Tila camp thanks to our repeated petition to the NHRC.

When HAI started working at the Signature bridge camp, a single handpump was the only water source there. The water from the handpump has TDS of 569 and you can understand the health risk of drinking such poor quality water. Due to our petition to NCPCR, there is now regular tanker water supply in the camp.

Electricity is also a major issue at Signature bridge camp. Despite repeated efforts, failed to get electricity in this camp because it is not considered a legal slum. As an alternate solution, we have provided solar system to every family and installed ten solar streetlights.

We tried and failed to get electricity in the Signature bridge #refugee camp. Therefore, we are providing solution on our own. After providing solar system to every family, now we are installing 10 solar street lights in the camp. #refugees pic.twitter.com/jc5ybPGbPG

— HA International (@humanaidint) March 24, 2021

Livelihood Support

HAI is supporting skill training, entrepreneurship & business training, establishing market links for the sale of products and establishing a group of women producers to improve livelihood and employability among, with a focus on the creation of a Training-cum- Production Centres for women’s groups, skill training for adult refugee men/youth through skill training schemes and programmes, marketing support to refugee businesses for entrepreneurship & business training.

 HAI also provides micro grant to refugees to set-up small business.

Education support activities

There is a strong need to provide education for youth who have missed educational opportunities at home and need basic literacy/numeracy education and to acquire a productive vocational skill.

HAI is engaged in providing remedial education to school going children to help improve their scholastic level and prevent dropping out.

Creation of legal aid, awareness and documentation support centres in each camp

HAI provides legal assistance to refugees, which includes facilitation in their registration with the government, getting Aadhar and PAN card, open bank account, apply for long-term or return visa and so on. HAI imparts awareness on their rights and duties as refugee in India. HAI will also facilitate their citizenship process once the CAA is made into a law.

Long term action plan

HAI plans to continue helping the Pak-Hindu refugees. Here’s our long term action plan:

• Need-based relief support
• Long-term livelihood activities
• Psychosocial health care support
• Local employment generation with a focus on skill development for the refugee
  population
• Adoption of community approach to limit dependency
• Universalisation of education
• Better access to health services
• Integration in India as productive citizens

To achieve this goal of helping the Pak-Hindu refugees live a dignified life in India, we rely on your continuous support. The least you could do is to donate.

We are aiming to raise a funding of 30 lacs for the financial year 2021-22.

Further reading for reference:

• Initial assessment report can be read here.
• WASH factsheet for Signature bridge camp.
• Education factsheet of Majnu Ka Tila and Signature Bridge refugee camps.

Maharashtra: After suffering from severe drought, Maharashtra, particularly western districts, is now grappling with a severe flood situation. Over 132,000 people have been evacuated to safer places with flood waters inundating several towns and villages, especially Kolhapur, Sangli and Sangli districts. HAI is initiating its immediate relief programme with focus on food, non-food items and drinking water.

Assam: HAI has already initiated its response in Golaghat district of Assam. In Assam, the floods have affected approximately 5.7 Million people in 30, out of 33 districts. The death toll has climbed to 37. While the Brahmaputra River continues to swell, at least 83,000 people have already been displaced. Many have taken shelter in approximately 500 government-established relief camps, and a lot more have been sheltering on embankments. The risk of more flooding and landslides persists as the monsoon season is not over yet.

The impact on agriculture and infrastructure is likely to lead to longer-term effects on livelihoods and food security, as 80% of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. HAI, together with its local partner NEADS, and with support from HCL Foundation and Himalaya Drug Company has initiated its response in Golaghat district. Our response focuses on immediate lifesaving activities, early recovery of infrastructure and livelihoods, creation of disaster mitigation structures and building awareness on rights and entitlements. There are still many unmet needs, such as repairing/reconstruction of damaged shelters. Please join our efforts in rehabilitating the affected families by making a contribution here.

Here is a short videos we made to show you the aftermath of the floods:

Here are some of the images of the Assam floods taken by our volunteers in the affected areas.

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Here are more images from our support work in Assam:

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