Dear friends of Calcutta Rescue,
First I want to say a big thank you for all the supportive messages we have received in the past few weeks.
Knowing that you care about us and the work we are doing at this very difficult time is so heartening for me and the whole team.
And we are very aware that you are facing many of the same problems that we are having to deal with here, though of course trying to support so many disadvantaged people here in Kolkata presents us with some unique challenges. So anything you can do to support the charity through this crisis is doubly appreciated – whether that be sharing posts on social media, telling your friends about what we are doing, or making a donation.
In my email to you early last week I promised to keep you updated on what is going on here and since then the situation has changed very rapidly and we have had to adapt as best we can. Today is Sunday, which is the 13th day of lockdown in West Bengal. Three of our clinics, Tala Park, Nimtala and DOTs, have been open for most of this period, while enforcing social distancing measures, except for 3 days near the beginning of the lockdown when we were uncertain about what to do. This is despite staff being stopped by police and no public transport. We relied upon staff walking and cycling to the clinics or being picked up by a Calcutta Rescue vehicle. We managed to secure permission from the police for our vehicles to be on the road 9 days ago.
The lockdown, while justified, was hitting the poorest the hardest. Nearly all daily wage earners or beggars, their cash inflow ground to a halt and food supplies became much more difficult to access. The situation also brought out the best in people. Local councillors and donors, individual as well as corporate, reached out to us and together we provided food to 110 pavement dwelling families. Government has since managed to quickly mobilise and is doing a good job in getting food grains to most areas. These food supplies will last a family of five about 4 days. However, going forward, government momentum could slow down so we are keeping a close eye on the food needs of our slum communities.
Dr Ghosh who is in charge of CR’s medical programme, and her team, has worked tirelessly on sifting through patient records and drawing up a list of priority patients who need medicine. So this week we have been ferrying drugs and food out to the homes of those most in need. To date 69 people in West Bengal have tested positive for Covid-19 (11 overnight) and there have been three deaths, so we only have a limited window to resupply patients before the risk of infection becomes high and we may face additional lockdown measures.
With two of our drivers unable to get to work and one being ill, I drove our ambulance about 60km out of the city to take medicine to a young woman in South 24 Parganas who has a rare bleeding disorder. It was very eerie driving through the empty and silent streets of Kolkata which is normally teeming with so much life. I was also able to visit a number of other patients en route who needed drugs and see for myself the very difficult conditions they are having to endure during the lockdown.
Yesterday, three Calcutta Rescue vehicles visited 89 patients at their homes across 27 different slum areas. This will continue today (Sunday) and tomorrow. A big concern is the dozens of patients at Nimtala Clinic and Chitpur with wounds and sores which need regular dressing if they are to recover. Over the last few days, we have met them, assessed them and given them the dressing materials to do this themselves over the next two weeks.
Our Head of Education, Ananya, and her teachers have been doing an amazing job supporting our 650 students – drawing up worksheets and ringing the children daily to provide coaching over the phone. The parents of around 100 of the children have got smartphones and these children are using them to photograph and send work to the teachers, who mark it and send it back in the same way.
Life is very hard for these youngsters at present with so many of them having to spend each day in one room with their whole family. So our school social worker and career counsellor have been phoning children and parents to check how they are doing and provide counselling where necessary. Some of the kids have been displaying their amazing artistic talent by creating pictures of their life under the lockdown. We are posting these daily on Facebook with the hashtag Kolkata Kids Lockdown – so do have a look.
I am really proud of how the team is coping so far. I did a quick calculation and over the last one week of lockdown CR has helped well over 500 poor families, given almost 4 tonnes of nutrition, provided Rs.3.5L of medicines and driven over 1000km… with less than 20 staff. We have also had exceptional support from our Treasurer, Wg Cdr Shomir Choudhuri, who has garnered funding and been active in food distribution.
By tomorrow, we will have served all our high-priority patients. We will now regroup and figure out a next course of action. Like you, we face a huge amount of uncertainty about what will happen over the coming weeks and months. But all of us here at the charity in Kolkata are committed to doing everything we can to continue to support our patients and schoolchildren to the best of our ability. I managed to speak to Dr Jack on the phone last week and he encouraged us to keep finding ways to get vital support to our beneficiaries and sent a message of support to the staff.
And knowing we have friends like you around the world, who may be far away but share that same commitment, is comforting and reassuring.
Sending very best wishes from everyone here at Calcutta Rescue to you and your family.
Jaydeep
Chief Executive