If the Virus Doesn’t Kill Them, Hunger Will

“The situation is dire,” said Rev. David Das in a phone call with me today. “If the virus doesn’t kill them, hunger will.” David is our National Coordinator in Bangladesh and the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh. “Our Interfaith Peacemaker Teams (IP Teams) are in the most marginalized areas. Many leaders and team members are daily wage earners. Because of the extended curfew, they have no income, and therefore no food. They are starving.” The government has supplied some assistance, but “because marginalized communities don’t have political clout, some are not receiving that aid.”

I also had a conversation with Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe, our National Coordinator in Sri Lanka. The IP Teams there have already begun to distribute dry rations to some of the communities that can be reached during breaks in curfew. They are also planning for the long haul, recognizing that the social isolation will continue for a long time to come. They are encouraging families and communities to grow their own food. He is hoping to provide seeds for vegetables and encourage the cultivation of yams.

Please click here to read some incredible stories of the work of IP Teams

Our Work in Nigeria

At a checkpoint on the road in Gombe State in Nigeria, the military stopped Abare Kallah and his team: “Why are you going about when there are limitations of movement?” they shouted in to the car.  “We are OMNIA,” said Abare, “we are going to do community awareness for Covid-19.” They got a thumbs up!

Earlier this month we launched a Community Awareness and Preparation for Covid-19 project in Gombe. We had a window of opportunity since there was no curfew. Rev. Abare Kallah, our National Coordinator in Nigeria, took a team of Nursing students, and visited 24 villages in the past 10 days. They trained the local Interfaith Peacemaker Teams (IP Teams) and provided talking points for religious leaders on using their public voice to get the message out to their communities.

When they got to the villages, they heard stories like: “This has not affected the poor man. I have never traveled to places that have the virus. I will not get the virus.” They also heard: “this is a disease of white people; it’s a disease of rich children who travel abroad;" and that it’s a political ploy. After the training, one man said that he now realizes that it is coming “like wildfire.”

Watch a short video clip of Rev. Abare Kallah here.

We equipped the IP Teams with a document I prepared to help religious leaders understand the religious reasons to accept such changes. You can read that here.

Seeing the impact we are making, the world-renowned interfaith organization, KAICIID (King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue) based in Vienna, Austria has partnered with us.

No Time to Wait on Phase II

We had hoped to wait until Bangladesh and Sri Lanka lifted their curfew to engage our IP Teams in Community Awareness and Preparation. Clearly, we have to act now. In Bangladesh the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths have surged in recent days. Sri Lanka’s numbers are more stable, but it is clear, as Bishop Kumara says, “we are in this for the long haul.”

To be clear, we are not a relief organization. Our mission to build IP Teams requires us to protect and support the ones we already have. I won’t usually come to you requesting relief aid. But this is an unusual circumstance, where our own leaders are in grave danger.

I have discussed with both our National Coordinators, methods by which we can ensure proper distribution of resources, despite the curfew. I am convinced that they both have organizational capacity to handle this well.

Therefore, I want to ask if you might do your part and make a generous contribution.

Today, I received the following message from a U.S. based donor:

“Shanta, I am sending you this donation from the stimulus funds I just received. I think OMNIA’s work is so important. It’s easy for me to stay at home and keep working during this COVID pause, but I keep thinking of our brothers and sisters on the Interfaith Peacemaker Teams who won’t have it so easy. I keep thinking of how many don’t have running water or days’ worth of food, like I do. I’m glad that OMNIA trains local leaders who understand the situation and will help their communities as best they can.”

How much can you give?  $25? 50? 100? 250? or more?

Your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous donor.

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Thank you!