COVID-19 Response Impact
JICAMARCA, PERU
Countries worldwide are struggling with wave after wave of COVID-19. Health services are being pushed to the brink to provide adequate care for the sick. When the second wave hit Peru, the town of Jicamarca was not spared. Local cases increased, raising concerns about some of the secondary complications of the virus, such as limb numbness, headaches, and lung and heart conditions, in addition to the emotional toll. With so many losing family members and friends to the pandemic, there has been a notable rise in the need for mental health support.
A much-needed grant from MWIA allowed the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Jicamarca Health Centre staff to respond to this most challenging trial. The team procured essential Personal Protective Equipment supplies for frontline health staff, including masks, gloves, aprons, caps and shoe coverings, as well as ammonium for disinfection and anti-fluid uniforms and caps, allowing them to prevent disease and work safely with their patients. Alongside these items, three oxygen concentrators were acquired to treat acute COVID-19 sufferers.
The health centre staff have provided pharmaceutical services to over 1689 people, primarily women, children and the elderly. They have further provided hundreds of telemedicine consultations and home visits, in addition to medicinal donations to vulnerable people.
INDIA
In a sign that community extends far beyond our immediate surrounds, MWIA supporters contributed $70,500 to Loreto emergency relief efforts as India faced devastating numbers of COVID-19 cases, a collapsing medical system and a shortage of oxygen.
“People have come together from all walks of life in the most extraordinary ways to lend a helping hand,” said Sr Shakuntala Kujur ibvm, Director at the Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre.
These funds provided desperately needed medical, nutritional and educational support to those in India who have been hit the hardest, particularly those who lost work and could not afford to provide food or medical treatment for themselves and their families.
As our Sisters live and work in the communities directly impacted, they were able to ensure medical support and emergency relief reached those who needed it quickly, save lives and help stop the spread of COVID-19. This included:
- Purchasing oxygen concentrators for the communities of Darjeeling, Champasari, Shillong, Ranchi and Kolkata.
- Delivering food, medical, and educational support for over 1,000 families from West Bengal province’s poorest, most remote communities.
- Providing medical and educational support for 250 young female street children as part of the Loreto Rainbow Homes program.
- Running COVID-19 awareness and protection training to local communities. This included the distribution of masks made by the youth group of the Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre.
Thank you for your support of our MWIA global projects. We are privileged to address the most basic needs of people at a time when it is far too apparent that they are without the same economic and social safety nets as we have. On behalf of the people we serve, thank you.
