Support Vulnerable Wastepickers whose daily livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown

Ketto is waving off its fee for this fundraiser

On the 6th of May, Hasiru Dala distributed 19 care kits of dry rations in Tumakuru, 273 care kits in Bengaluru, and 45 care kits in Coimbatore. In Mysuru, 160 protein kits for children and 242 children's hygiene kits were distributed; in Chikkaballapur, 106 protein kits for children and 228 children's hygiene kits were distributed.

Altogether, Hasiru Dala has distributed 11,997 care kits (dry rations), 1,565 children's protein kits, 2,556 children's hygiene kits and 214 women's hygiene kits.This was our immediate, rapid response intervention to mitigate hunger.

Pivoting now from only distribution of rations to execute additional interventions for the medium and long term fallouts of the pandemic and the extended lockdown (now till May 3, 2020).  We would be working in the areas of livelihood re-creation and security, healthcare, child nutrition, workplace and home safety/hygiene and education.  We solicit your continued support through donations and socializing this amongst your networks, if appropriate for you.  

Hasiru Dala has identified the following areas for intervention amongst the more than 15000 wastepickers that it works with in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh:
- Distribution of grocery rations and care kits to vulnerable families
- Healthcare access (primary, secondary and tertiary) and medication supply for conditions requiring regular medication like diabetes, hypertension, blood sugar, HIV and psychiatric assistance.
- Nutrition supplement kits for growing children to arrest slide into malnutrition.
- Engagement with children and parents to ensure that they don't drop out of school due to economic conditions or disinterest
- PPE kits, hygiene products to ensure safety at work and home
- Long term livelihood assistance in funding working capital, restarting supply chain, initiatives like setting up aggregation centers to ensure fair trade practices

On 22nd April in Tumkur, protein kits were distributed to 81 wastepicker families with children, and 120 children were given personal hygiene kits with educational material about COVID-19.  So far, Hasiru Dala has distributed 199 protein kits and 320 hygiene kits for children's needs

In Rajahmundry, local donors supported us in providing vegetable kits (onions, tomatoes, brinjal, carrots, greens) to 150 families.

Background
In a neighbourhood dumping spot, you see men and women armed with old shoes, recycled clothes, a sickle, bag hanging on their shoulder. They bend a thousand times, walk miles to pick recyclable waste to earn their living. They maintain the city against the growing tide of waste. In Bangalore alone, wastepickers save the municipal authorities up to 84 crores for collection and transportation alone by picking recyclables from waste for transportation.

The informal waste sector is an essential extension of waste management and wastepickers are the key to recycling trade for 3000 tonnes of material. Now, wastepicker families are in a difficult situation under the COVID-19 outbreak; they must continue to work as they don’t have the privilege to work from home. However, the waste on the street that they can pick has reduced and children are out of school, which means they do not receive mid-day meals.

Here's a quick update