Not For Sale: An update from the field
This week I wanted to provide updates from several of Not For Sale's projects in the field. The effects that COVID-19 is having on our community of survivors is very real.
NOT FOR SALE PERU
Our fishery project deep in the Peruvian Amazon has been crucial to keeping many indigenous communities COVID-19 free because they don't need to travel into the city to purchase their protein. If the people there contracted COVID-19 it would have horrific effects, as they lack access to hospitals that are equipped to handle the pandemic. However, adding new fisheries was halted last month because of a funding shortage due to COVID-19.
NOT FOR SALE THAILAND
Typically, half of the kids that live at our Bahn Kru Nam community home attend boarding schools during the school year. Due to COVID-19, all of our kids are back living in the home. This has put great stress on our staff, who now have to feed more kids than expected, help with school work, and much more. Making things more difficult, food costs have tripled, putting pressure on our already limited budget, which had to be cut due to COVID-19 related funding shortages.
NOT FOR SALE SOUTH AFRICA
We have ensured that all of our children are in safe local care throughout this lockdown period. This plan is vital as the homeless are being rounded up and put in poor conditions in stadiums and "hostels”. At this critical time, our funding to support our work in South Africa has been cut short due to COVID-19.
"Not since the early days of the HIV pandemic have I witnessed such challenges. South Africa is under lockdown. There is so much fear around what Covid-19 could do because of the number of people with HIV." NOT FOR SALE SOUTHERN AFRICA DIRECTOR - Tom Hewitt
I will continue to share updates from the field and the reality of the effect that COVID-19 is having on our work. Thank you for your continued support of Not For Sale.