Covid Response

#NoRonaforCorona : Aarohan’s swift response to Covid-19 Lockdown & Crisis

The coronavirus pandemic came upon us suddenly and the Government declared a complete lockdown giving only a few hours for citizens to understand the situation much less prepare themselves for it.

Businesses were forced to shut down and people lost their jobs by thousands. Also the fear and uncertainty forced many of the migrants to return to their homes. There was an atmosphere of fear, anxiety and desperation due to the acute and sudden financial crisis in addition to the looking health crisis.

The poor and marginalized were thrown into a complete disarray. There was an acute shortage of food, clean drinking water, masks and hygiene products like soaps and sanitary napkins.

Aarohan swung into action immediately and launched the #NoRonaforCorona campaign to boost the morale of its own team of volunteers and the community it serves. At this juncture, Aarohan aimed to reach out to the distressed families, vulnerable children on the street and other community members like daily wage labour, rickshaw pullers, domestic helps, construction workers etc at various locations of Delhi NCR.

We adopted the following steps:

a. Applied and received a permission letter to distribute the food items.

b. Short listed the clusters

c. Ensured social distance while distribution.

Area Wise Cluster Names-

> South Delhi- Jagdamba Camp, Begumpur, Indira Camp, Valmiki Camp, Hauz Rani, Khirki village, Zamrudpur, Sheikh Sarai, Savitri Nagar, Shahpur Jat Village.

> Bhatti Mines- Sanjay Camp, Subhash Camp, Pakistani Mohalla, Kundan Chowk, Kalimandir Mohalla, Sindhi Mohalla.

> North West Delhi- Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri.

> Greater Noida- Sakipur-Greater Noida.

Distribution Strategy
The immediate response to the crisis was to provide cooked food – since many households had no money to buy and cook food. We started providing cooked food to 1200 people every day with the help of feeding India, gurudwaras and MAAD (Mayo College Association Delhi) and Smile Foundation.

Under the campaign NO RONA FOR CORONA (Do not panic due to Corona) started collecting food grains, small donations. It was well appreciated and soon Volunteers and individuals extended helping hands in providing relief.

Aarohan’s focus was Aarohan children and their families, slum dwellers with a special focus on the children and the elderly.

Families were given dry rations, Dettol soaps, masks, sanitizers and sanitary napkins

For Children: Hygiene products, food packets, games and colour books for primary level children. For small kids -balloons, horn blowers and candies.

The elderly was given food, medicines, masks and sanitizers Food Packets, Energy Drinks and Drinking Water was distributed amongst the migrants at Ajmeri Gate Railway Station. The situation at hand was fast evolving and Aarohan was in constant touch with its children and their families. Soon, with studies moving online, the shortage of smartphones and tablets was acutely felt by the children. Aarohan then started a donor contact program to raise funds for providing tablets and smart devices to enable children to study and attend online classes.