Most of the parents of the children attending the Memphis-Mumbai -Connect group of schools are migrants from other parts of India. They work in service industries like hospitality, construction, restaurants, run small roadside businesses etc.
Migrants have inadequate economic support systems for health and other benefits as they mostly work in the informal sector on daily wages. Hence, they are extremely economically vulnerable. They live in tiny homes of 50 square feet or less, shared with close relatives to manage living costs.
The COVID-19 lockdown in April /May’2020 surfaced this vulnerability with most families on the brink of starvation, huddled in their over-crowded homes.
The Memphis-Mumbai-Connect (MMC) team (Avisha Kukarni, Shaila Karkera and Shyamala Salian) decided to go beyond the scope of “English education for under privileged children” and initiated a funding for grocery distribution to the affected families.
A lot of Indians living abroad also generously contributed for this effort.
In May’2020 grocery distribution was arranged for 3200 daily wager families. The grocery hampers were prepared by teachers and their spouses many of whom were also jobless. This work enabled the latter a temporary income.
Additionally, Avisha and her team of teaching staff also traversed through the slums at great risk given the high rates of COVID-19 transmission, to hand over grocery hampers to needy families. Families of students and the teaching staff of MMC were given an additional 6 months of grocery stocks.
In this mood of despair surfaced heart-warming stories of affected families sharing their received food stocks with neighbours, despite their own uncertain future.
Embodying the Indian spirit of “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” the world is one family.
Copyright © 2022 Encourage foundation - All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.