March 23rd 2020
Dear Friends,
We are all very concerned about the current pandemic and hope everyone is being careful and can stay safe and well.
I am writing now to tell you how things are here for us in order to reassure you that we are managing as best we can and adapting to the ever changing situation. Last week we held a series of meetings to manage our response to the local administration’s restrictions on meetings and gatherings and the closure of schools. Each day brings in a new set of regulations, which on Friday effectively sealed Himachal Pradesh off from the rest of the world. On Sunday there was a whole India trial shutdown and now that we have our first two suspected cases in Kangra district, the whole of the State has a complete shut-down of non-essential services until further notice. The Community Centre and Clinic therefore now closed and our staff are staying at home. Although, Dr Barbara is keeping the clinic open for our chronic local patients as long as possible with the help of the younger and local members of staff. She is also making herself available to her long term homeopathic patients on WhatsApp and will see patients who call on her in emergency for non-virus problems
Private and charitable clinics such as ours are not permitted to see corona virus patients – all patients showing signs of the virus have to go directly to the Government hospitals for testing and quarantine. Any patients who present to us with fever, (we now have a hand held forehead thermometer), cough or shortness of breath, will be directed to those hospitals. In order to maintain a very high level of hygiene, all patients are required to wash their hands before approaching our registration counter. We imposed a stringent cleaning program both in the clinic and the community centre– paying particular attention to door handles, counters, tables, handrails and light switches. We also encouraged everyone to practice strict social distancing and remain vigilant. Now, most of us are in isolation until the situation improves.
Since last week, when the schools closed, we stopped all our crèche and school programs. We also had to stop the village clinic outreach program because we could not risk gathering people together. The sponsorship students who have almost completed their college year will no longer be meeting in the community centre on Sundays, though Vijay keeps in touch with them through a WhatsApp group.
Last week we set up a stringent hand washing regime with laminated notices reminding everyone who comes to Clinic and Community Centre to wash their hands, and a good illustrated chart showing how to wash thoroughly is pinned above the wash basins. The children who came to the community centre were carefully instructed and supervised in handwashing both when they arrived and when they left. They were also instructed to cough into their elbow and keep a safe distance from each other. Today of course the community centre is closed and the children have to stay in are around their homes. It will be very difficult for them. Sadly, the two workshop programs we had planned for this month, a Gender Training for teenage boys and a Wenlido workshop, have had to be postponed.
The single women are our greatest concern. We are in touch with 7,000 women, most of whom are over 65. The number of people in the villages who are ‘vulnerable’ is frightening so we hope and pray the virus stays away. We called our single women activists last week and agreed that since they cannot hold any meetings, either in the community centre or in the villages, they should try to stay in touch with the women individually by going from house to house and visiting them. They will need reassuring advice and clear information since there are so many scary rumours going around. We really hope we can escape the worst predictions through hygiene and social distancing, but need to be aware that it is very difficult when living conditions are primitive and isolation itself has serious consequences for already marginalised and stressed people. However, now, at least until the restrictions are lifted, this cannot happen and our activists will stay at home. They do have all the women’s phone numbers so hopefully they will be able to contact each other by phone.
Recently we made a handout to encourage everyone to sign up for the Government health insurance card which enables poorer people in the community to access Government and certain other medical facilities free of cost up to 5 Lakh Rupees. Our activists were going to take this opportunity to hand it out and explain it as they visit the village houses, making sure the information is available to everyone. This health insurance is a wonderful gift for the people, but regrettably few are aware of it or have been able to get hold of all the documents they need in order to apply for it. We have been working on this project for some time with considerable success, so our activists are now experts in advising exactly how to get these cards. Our activists have also done very good work helping 46 widows to get the pensions they are due but are denied for various spurious reasons put forward by officials. It is absolutely essential that widows should get even the small pension they are due from the Government into their own pockets.
The uncertainty of the situation means that we have no idea what urgent needs might possibly come up within the community or when we will be able to resume our usual programs. At the same time we need to remain open and ready to respond to real and unforeseen needs that might arise. We will keep you informed. We are ready to redefine ourselves and focus on what is really essential. For the moment this involves keeping our team healthy and actively aware of the needs of the community.
We hope everyone remains well and positive in this challenging time.
Very Best wishes,
Philippa and Barbara
