India has reported 500,000 confirmed cases of COVID19 and a record daily leap of 18,500. The infection rate is surging in the major cities. In Delhi, a city of 20 million people, there are only 13,200 beds for COVID19 patients. Epidemiologist Jayaprakash Muliyil, advisor to the Indian government, states that India's low death rate compared to the number of infected is most likely due to the fact that a COVID19 death to be confirmed, the deceased has to have been tested for the virus before being included in the statistics. But with a population of 1.3 billion, the level of access to testing is very low.
In Tamil Nadu, where Nandri is situated, the Death toll has increased to 1,025. The region remains one of the highest infected in India. Nandri continues to support all our families and the people of the surrounding villages. We distribute rice and basic necessities to thousands on a weekly basis. We continue to educate our mothers and their families on the need to stay vigilant to protect themselves from becoming infected. Our families are so grateful to have Nandri’s support through these desperate times.
Even while our families struggle to survive the pandemic, our mothers reached out to one of our Islamic Nandri members whose daughter was getting married. They supported her with funds for the wedding, a special wedding gift and shared what little they had in order to make the day special for the bride and groom. Nandri consists of mothers from many different religions. We embrace people from all castes and creeds and encourage tolerance and understanding among our mothers self help groups. Our mothers are part of the large caring family of Nandri and with our help, they support each other through challenging times in their lives. The very grateful bride and groom welcomed all the mothers to the wedding and in the gloom of the Coronavirus, there was a ray of sunshine as they all celebrated with joy, the couple's special day.
