Pandemic relief support for Nepal and Bangladesh

Banner picture: The Guardian

As India continues being devastated by the virus, neighbouring countries also become burdened by the aftermath of the pandemic. Many left India in favour of returning to their hometowns of Nepal or Bangladesh; however, these respective countries’ lax border control and remiss quarantine measures have consequently lead to an even more rapid, accelerated outbreak. Nepal, in particular, once soared to more than 8,000 confirmed cases within a single day. Despite the tremendous spike in daily confirmed cases having now plateaued slightly, news of a new mutation’s emergence has begun circulating. This alarming predicament calls for immediate action before the situation exacerbates.

Last year, we did a fundraiser to help countries in poverty fight the pandemic, using “vanishing infected areas” as our theme and main subject. We did this to shed light upon the urgent plight of developing countries, whose dismal circumstances and dire needs for humanitarian aid were near-completely overshadowed in global media coverage by the far-more-palatable situations of developed countries. The oversight and diminishment of the extremities developing nations have suffered through rendered these infected areas as good as “vanished”, hence the theme to raise awareness. Despite the year’s many worrisome matters, however, we still observed positive breakthroughs. Not only has CEDAR Fund received unconditional support in the form of prayers and donations for our relief and rescue work in India, but more and more media reports have finally turned their attention to the problematic situations of South Asian countries. To be perfectly candid, we feel mixed emotions, too. Though we’re elated to see the impoverished finally receive the attention and resources they so desperately need, on the other hand, we can’t help but feel heavy-hearted when witnessing such destitute conditions.

As such, from this point forward, we would like to earnestly call upon everyone to pay attention to the state of the deadly disease in India and keep an eye out for its neighbouring countries’ needs. We recently allocated around HK$670,000 to carry out three relief programs in Nepal and Bangladesh, providing them with ample support in medical aid and food assistance.

The project details are as follows:

Nepal

• Collaborating with our partner UMN to provide sufficient Coronavirus testing kits and oxygen administration equipment for two hospitals; hire medical staff; and provide protective clothing for all hospital staff. In total, we will be aiding around 2,000 people.

Bangladesh

• Collaborating with our partner LAMB to provide protective clothing for a local hospital, aiding 25 people. Additionally, we will be equipping hospital wards with oxygen generators, which aids an estimated 900 people per month.
• Collaborating with our partner World Concern to provide a week’s worth of medical face masks and food supply to 1,500 unemployed families (many families only get to eat one meal per day).