INDIA: Relief efforts reach more than 700,000 people in need
Don Bosco Development Society has provided support to more than 700,000 people over the last 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic
INDIA
(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Development Society, the planning and development office of the Salesian Province of Mumbai, India, has helped more than 700,000 people in need, providing for their basic needs over the last 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization planned a series of distributions to ensure those most in need of support received it.
Most recently, Don Bosco Development Society helped 100 poor and needy families in Chinchwad by distributing relief kits containing groceries, hygiene kits and toiletries. This relief work operation was financially supported by AXA Business Services.
In 2020, Don Bosco Development Society carried out several distributions of food and hygiene items. It helped 400 poor families in the Dharavi slum with the support of Don Bosco Mondo in Bonn, Germany. Dharavi is the largest slum in Asia and is home to 850,000 residents, making it also one of the more cramped spaces in Mumbai.
Don Bosco Development Society also helped 140 people with disabilities residing in the slum by distributing relief kits containing rations and toiletries. Since some of those with physical disabilities could not pick up their relief kits in person, their family members did so on their behalf.
“People living in the slums of India have been hard hit by the pandemic lockdown and were without the means to earn even a meager living for food,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Many were day laborers or worked in the informal employment sector selling items on the streets. Because of the lockdown, this work is no longer available and families are suffering. Salesian missionaries live among the populations they serve, so they are agile in their response in times of crisis such as this.”
Don Bosco Development Society and Salesian organizations across India have been supporting families in need through prevention campaigns, distribution of food and hygiene items, and remote education.
India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22 percent of the country lives in poverty. About 31 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. A multidimensionally poor child is one who lacks at least one-third of 10 indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living.
India’s youth also face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44 percent of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10 percent of the working-age population has completed secondary education. In addition, many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.
###
Sources:
Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)
Don Bosco Development Society Facebook
Don Bosco Development Society – Distribution Video
Salesian Missions – India
World Bank – India
