The COVID-19 Pandemic in Nepal, 2020
Nepal went into lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a time of unprecedented illness and upheaval. Those who left their houses ran the risk of being arrested. Since the parents of Nepal House girls are mostly day labourers who get paid at the end of each working day, then buy their daily meal, they weren’t able to get food for their families.
Even though the NHK school and counselling centre was forced to close, counsellors stayed in regular touch with families and made arrangements for needed supports. Additionally, the NHK staff gave their phone number to local government agencies to offer assistance in supporting families where there were concerns about children’s safety, as well as offering support for adults due to the pandemic.
What’s worse, borders with India closed, which caused food and fuel prices to spike. Government provided some families with meagre one-time support which they were expected to make last until the unknown-end of the lockdown.
We were able to support some of Nepal's most vulnerable families during the pandemic. During this time, thanks to generous donations, we were able to:
provide food staples of 10kg of rice, 10 kg lentils, sugar, salt, tea and oil to 28 families
pay medical fees for struggling Nepali families who had medical concerns such as infections, broken bones, etc.
ensure that we continued to support front-line Nepali staff in providing COVID-19 education and emotional support to their fellow Nepalis