Helping India's covid crisis

We've all been moved by the plight of Indian hospitals struggling to cope with the current covid wave. Paul explains how we can help ... 

Rev. Dan Clark asked me what can we do for our brothers and sisters in India? 
We live with enormous opportunity to engage with the global church and share in the joys and sufferings of the body of Christ. At this time the CV pandemic situation in India and Nepal – which shares an open border with India, is dire. There seems to have been little planning to deal with the second wave of CV19 and its variant forms. Until recently there were large gatherings for religious festivals and electioneering and so the spike in cases with the inevitable deaths seems likely to persist for some time. Over 20 million recorded cased and new cases are well over 300,000 per day. Some states have been worst hit and less prepared than other states. Over 222,000 have died as a result of Covid but it is thought that this figure is very under-reported. The current spike may make this number much higher.
Currently, India has a population of 1.4 billion but only 26 million have had 2 vaccination jabs, and about 124 million have had one dose of the vaccination. This is in a country which is the largest producer of vaccines in the world – often named the pharmacy of the world. India also provides a major medical labour force for the richer world. Appallingly though, India spends little of its Gross Domestic Product per capita on healthcare. The poor find it hard to access health services unless they can get family loans etc. This does not bode well for so many in India and Nepal at this time. We see distressing scenes of people hunting for oxygen across the cities, and patients sometimes 2 or 3 in a hospital bed, and crematoriums completely overloaded.
The church in India, like many groups, are seeking to make a response to this dire situation. AsiaCMS through its talented committed network of local partners in the region have been able to respond significantly in local situations since the pandemic started (see page further down for what they did in 2020).
The primary focus in India and Nepal is now to work with:

• partner organisations and their communities who are infected with Covid19 to address the needs of Christians but also those of other religions too
• to seek to support bereaved families particularly those who have lost their main breadwinner
• the provision of essential medical safety supplies.
• pastoral support.

As a church we made a great contribution last year to the situation in Africa and many people have been so blessed by our actions as the reports indicated. This year as the pandemic continues to take its toll we again look to the needs of others in much worse circumstances. AsiaCMS through their relational relief work are able to make a significant local difference to families and communities known to the local partner organisations. It is a terrific way of being able to demonstrate our Christian love in practice.
We can all pray for India and Nepal at this time. Do also remember our Indian families in the church or those with whom we work who are under immense strain at the moment. One person cried saying “I fear it every time my phone pings as it is likely to be another message of sadness and loss.” If you want to give to this initiative in India and Nepal then please make your contributions to St James by the Park by May 21st (see below for how you can do this) and we will then send the money on to AsiaCMS for immediate use.
So lets pray and give so others may live.

Asia CMS In 2020  
AsiaCMS met the most immediate and basic need of cooked food and dry provision for 2054 households across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by working with.
The aim of Phase 1 was to meet these most immediate and basic needs. This was done through multiple organisations across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Covid -19 didn’t just have economic and social consequences, there were also emotional and mental issues arising from the pandemic. In order to offer help, AsiaCMS brought together partners in South Asia who had a breadth of expertise in the psycho-social sphere and developed 3 toolkits : -  ‘Self-Awareness and Self-Care toolkit’, ‘Dealing with Loss and Grief toolkit’ and ‘Covid19 Resilience toolkit’. AsiaCMS is now geared to respond to needs through these.

Asia CMS are now seeking to redress the changed circumstances in India.  The new double mutated strain of the virus coincided with major festivals, elections and a generally lax attitude of people towards precautions which led to the unprecedented surge and devastation which is ongoing. The government also mirrored this laxness and priority of elections and festivals over public health, this coupled with no preparation of health infrastructure or essential medical provisions needed has made the situation even worse. 

​To contribute financially, please either:

• write a cheque (payable to "PCC of Shirley" and clearly labelled "for India") and pop it in to the Parish Office;
• make a bank transfer to our account ("PCC of Shirley") sort code 55 50 23, account number: 69481377, reference "for India".

All monies (and Gift Aid) will be forwarded to AsiaCMS. If you are a UK taxpayer and haven't yet signed a Gift Aid declaration to our church, please fill in the form here. 

Thank you. 

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