Emergency Food and Medicine for Kolkata's Poorest

On 19th December our team distributed emergency rations to 20 families in crisis. Many lost their livelihoods in the COVID lockdown and have been unable to get back on their feet. Other families are torn apart by domestic abuse, illness or bereavement. Rations are distributed to the female head of the family.

Aklima lives on the street under a flyover in Kolkata, West Bengal. She is fifty years old and a widow. She is supporting three daughters and two sons (aged between 15 and 22 years). She is a ragpicker. She collects solid waste to be able to feed her family. She walks 4 to 6 km to meet daily necessity. She earns three hundred rupees (£3.00 or USD3.60) by spending six hours daily collecting materials such as- plastic items, bottles, tin, iron as well as soft toys. She sells tin and iron at Rs 4 per kg and bottles at Rs 8 per kg. Desperation has forced her to do this work. Security has become a long distant dream. The rags collected by her are sold after two or three days. The work is not regular. The situation forced her to beg as well. Whatever she earns is not sufficient to maintain her family’s daily needs. She is unaware about any kind of Govt. schemes hence, not getting any help from Govt. She does not have Swasthya Sathi (health insurance) card under the West Bengal Govt. scheme. Nor does she have a ration card which would entitle her to food rations.

Aklima badly needs help. On Monday, thanks to your generosity, she received a pack of emergency food rations. Moreover our livelihood team will link her with the various government schemes available to society’s poorest. We will also work with her sons and daughters to find them employment so that they can become independent of their mother.

Each ration pack should last a family of four one month.

10Kg Rice, 5kg wheat flour, 2litres cooking oil, 1 kg salt, 1 kg sugar, 500gm Bengal gram, 500kg semolina, 100gm turmeric, 100 gm chilli powder, 200 gm puffed rice, 1 kg soyabean chunks 

The cost is Rs 1262 for the pack. Your donations directly enable us to rescue these desperate families from the terror of hunger. 

That's USD15.25  or GBP12.57 - to feed a family of 4 for a month.

Thank you

Sakina is only 17 but she has already faced her family’s ruin after her father’s death from kidney failure a year ago. Her mother, Rukshana, became the sole breadwinner for herself and her two daughters by working as a maidservant. This is brutally exploitative work bringing in just 2 – 3000 Rupees a month (£20).  But Rukshana is now also very unwell, suffering terrible stomach pains which prevent her working. In order to feed the family 17 year old Sakina took over her mother’s work. But Sakina wants more from life. She is one of our youngsters who has chosen to remain at school and lift herself out of poverty through education.

Remarkably, she passed her Class X board exam this year, despite the terrible times she is going through.

I was in Kolkata in May and attended a meeting of all the young people from Sakina’s area who attend our Evening Classes.  Our aim was to provide support and encouragement for girls like Sakina by inviting youngsters who have already started university to come and talk about their experiences. One by one the girls and boys stood up and told their stories. Sakina wept as she told the group how she was struggling and afraid she would have to give up on her dream of an education.

On our way home we asked Sakina to take us to visit her Mum. Thin and pale Rukshana lay on a raised platform that is both bed, storage space and table in these one-room slum dwellings. My lovely colleagues Parveen and Sufia leapt into action. They mobilised funds for medical help and rations for the family. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you we are able to provide the temporary help required to get a family like this back on its feet. With your support, Sakina is continuing her education and does not need to travel miles to go and work as a maidservant for miserable wages.  

Much of our emergency relief work is tied to keeping young people in education or training. This is the best way a family can earn a sustainable income and lift itself out of poverty.  Parveen ensured that Sakina was also enrolled in computer classes so that she is building her skills for a better future.

It costs just £30 a month to provide the basic support for a family like Sakina’s.