Our work for COVId 19 Relief
We are working in India, Kenya and Nigeria to provide COVID-19 relief activities to the poorest
Every Infant Matters has leveraged our strengths and presence at grassroot level to provide succour from the dreaded COVID-19 in these difficult times.
We have provided the following:
1. Distribution of protective equipment to doctors, nurses, low paid hospital staff like ambulance drivers, security guards, sanitary and housekeeping staff etc. We have given, 1300 masks, 700 sanitisers, 100 protective goggles, 250 face shields, and 150 Personal protective kits so far.
2. Distribution for police personnel: Face shields, masks, hand sanitisers for police personnel.
3. Food and groceries: We have given to migrant workers in Delhi, UP and Assam: 875 people have been given groceries for a month, and 2000 more being given this week.
In Delhi, we tied up with a local NGO that is providing cooked meals in government run shelters for homeless people and provided food and soap to homeless people.
4. In Assam, we partnered with CDI, Centre for Development Initiative, and contributed bales of cloth for a project to stitch 30,000 masks for domestic workers who have lost their jobs.
5. In Kenya we have distribute 500 soaps, 150 sanitisers, 500 sanitary napkins, food to 15O families in sums of Nairobi.
All these projects will go to scale this month with support from the One Young World, UK, who will fund the purchase and distribution of the above items.
"We will die of starvation, not COVID-19" say homeless and jobless migrants in New Delhi
Hundreds of thousands of men women and children went hungry and thirsty in the exodus of migrant labourers from delhi to nearby states. They lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 scare. they are daily wagers, construction workers, errand boys, tea stall workers and so on, a huge army of informal workers whose lives and jobs and wages are totally disorganised. We are providing groceries for several families for a whole month for each family. each relief pack has 20 kg of flour, 20 kg rice, lentils, oil, salt and spices.
Men women children, hungry and thirsty and tired and exhausted, are on long marches on foot, trying to reach their native villages. Most are labourers or other daily wagers who have lost their jobs. Chaotic scenes everywhere. Every Infant Matters raising funds to provide food and groceries and water.
Providing masks and soaps to remote areas of North East India
We work in partnership with CDI, Centre for Development Initiative, based out of Gawhati, Assam. This is the development wing of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (MSMHC), an organization dedicated to the service of marginalized communities, especially women, girls and children, from Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Maharastra, Nagaland, Orissa and Tripura. A pharmaceutical supplier is arranging these commodities for us at highly subsidised rates. We have sent soaps and masks, and bales of cloth to the Nuns who are sewing 30,000 masks for domestic workers and their children
Working for the homeless in delhi
We are distributing masks and soaps and hand sanitisers to homeless people, especially children, who are malnourished and vulnerable. They live in unhygienic conditions and survive on meagre scraps of food. Even though the disease progression in children is mild, they may pass on the virus to others who fall in the high risk category. This small step taken in the right direction may help flatten the curve. We have partnered with a local NGO called Donate a Meal, this has shelters, free meals and distribution drives for homeless people. A pharmaceutical supplier is arranging these commodities for us at highly subsidised rates.
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OUR SERVICES
We have had a great impact in India, Kenya and Nigeria. In India we work in 5 states, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Mizoram and the North East. In Nigeria we work in Calabar, Calabar Municipality LGA, Calabar South LGA, and Ekori community in Yakurr LGA in Cross River State.
1. Blindness Prevention: More than 25,120 children have been given Vitamin A to save them from going blind. These are children from India and Nigeria, in slums, villages, orphanages, street children, and those living in shanties at construction sites.
1.4 million children worldwide go blind, the commonest cause being Vitamin A deficiency. In India, there are about 320,000 blind children. This is more than any other country in the world. Preventing blindness in children is a priority since it can affect their development, mobility, education and employment opportunities. These are children who live on a handful of rice daily, and have never seen milk, eggs and butter
2. Deworming: 21,215 children have been given deworming tablets to treating worm infestation, thus improve health and nutritional status. Treating worm infestation improves nutritional status, as it prevents loss of nutrients from the body, prevents micronutrient deficiencies, and ensures that children retain adequate nutrients to support their mental and physical development.
3. Prenatal Vitamins to Disadvantaged Mothers :These will improve nutrition for both the mother and the child. We started a pilot with 500 pregnant women. We have now served 27500 women in India and in Nigeria, each has been given a bottle containing 180 tablets of high quality vitamins. This project will go to scale in 2020 to serve 40,000 women
4. Holistic health care: More than 32,000 disadvantaged families educated on breast feeding, immunisation, hygiene, hand washing techniques. We take care of gender issues and encourage families to do so. We dispel harmful life-threatening myths, such as: applying cow-dung on the umbilical cord, cessation of feeding when a child has diarrhoea or vomiting, giving diluted milk to neonates, going to witch-doctors who burn children with hot iron to ‘cure’ diseases, etc.
5. Promoting gender equality: There is great injustice meted out to women and girls. The girl child is neglected when it comes to health and education. Girls are given less food than boys. Boys get lentils and vegetables; girls get rice. Female feticide has been rampant for a long time.. All this left a lasting impression and motivated us to work for gender equality, especially in the field of health. Providing the gift of sight is the first step towards women’s independence. Women are denied opportunities, and the situation is much worse if she is blind. A girl who has the gift of sight gets education, jobs, entrepreneurship and leadership opportunities.
6. Preventing stigma and discrimination to those with Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs or blindness
HEALTH CAMPS
Every Infant matters has been implementing its projects both directly or through health camps held in partnership with other NGOs, physicians, and charitable organisations:
1. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has carried out blindness prevention and womens health camps in Lucknow, UP, India in November 2019. Camps were organised by Dr Rukhsana Khan, I am past President IMA lucknow, .past vice president IMA, UP, India, Presently UP Chair Person WDW (Multispeciality Female Wing) sister concern of IMA. These camps were attended by women and children from slums of central lucknow as well as its suburban villages. Dr Khan accompanied by a team of doctors volunteered their time for this.
2. DEACON EKPENYONG EFFIOK, FOUNDER & CEO, JEKSUME RESOURCES NIGERIA, CALABAR : This organisation has carried out a series of health camps in Nigeria, in Ikot Ansa Primary Health Care center, and Diamond hill primary health care centre., Nigeria, attended by several thousand women and children. the camps were hedl between September 2019-November 2019. More than 100 volunteers were in preparation for the training by Vitamin Angels. Children and women came directly to the camps, others were are approached by volunteers from their work, farms, markets and schools for the children, and where members of any organisation are gathering, such as in churches, mosques etc.
Prenatal Multivitamins given to 27,162 women.
Vitamin A and Albendazole given to 15762 children.
3. New Health camp in NIGERIA: by Dr EKPENYONG EFFIOK, FOUNDER & CEO, JEKSUME. A large scale camp carried out in Ekori community, Yakurr LGA in Cross River State, Nigeria, from 28th to 30th December, 2019. They were able to cover over 2,700 women beneficiaries . They have been booked to return in 6 months time to carry out another round of health services.
4. Camp in collaboration with Chetna NGO and Apollo Hospitals was held in Mahipalpur on 1st September 2019. Another camp was held Maidangadhi Delhi on 28th August 2019 with collobration of Apolo group of Hospital and around 500 people have been benefited in each camp. Chetna is an NGO "Chetna Samaj Karya Evam Punerwas Sanstha " BUNDI Rajasthan and working at southDelhi,Jaipur,Bundi and few other places of Rajasthan. .
5. Health camps organised in Partnership with JNU Jaipur. Pregnant women were given prenatal vitamins given by the physicians at the in-house hospital of JNU. Marginalised children from slums and villages were given Vitamin A and Albendazole both at the hospital as well as the camps they have organised in the slum areas.
6. Virat Hospitals and Dr Virat Vir Yadav have conducted health camps in Rewari Haryana in villages and orphanages
7. Health camps for children of labourers at construction sites by Pediatrician Dr Shalini Pandey
8. Bhagat Foundation, Gareeb graamin seva trust
9. Saksham: Saksham is implementing Projects of Every Infant Matters through its community teaching programs, plays, events, seminars & workshops at school, college, university as well as village & gram panchayat levels.
10. Robin Hood Army: we partnered with the Robin Hood Army to work in the slums of Mumbai, India.
Health camps in Nigeria
Taking care of Low birth weight babies
"Mealtimes can be frustrating business.. especially when you’re born at 1.2 kg!" says Dr Radhika Batra.
She continues to write: "In 2015, 20.5 million newborns, an estimated 14.6 per cent of all babies born globally that year, suffered from low birthweight. These babies were more likely to die during their first month of life and those who survived face lifelong consequences including a higher risk of stunted growth, lower IQ and adult-onset chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
To grow a healthy baby, mothers need good nutrition and rest, adequate antenatal care, and a clean environment.
Unfortunately in many third world countries these pre-requisites are a rare luxury.Most mothers are malnourished and under cared for, surviving on meagre scraps of with no antenatal checkup’s or follow up of any kind. We at every infant matters believe in giving every child a healthy start from the beginning , to help achieve this goal we started dispensing prenatal vitamins to expectant mothers which are taken from the 3rd month of pregnancy until term. These vitamins improve maternal nutritional status and hence lower the risk of intranuterine growth retardation and its long term disastrous sequelae.
Proud to announce today that Our team here at EIM has successfully provided antenatal vitamins to 27,050 expectant mothers in India and Nigeria !
One small step towards achieving the World Health Assembly (WHA) nutrition target to reduce low birthweight by 30 per cent between 2012 and 2025.."
