Hello to our dear friends and supporters,
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, particularly in neighbouring India, all of us here in Nepal are doing our best to minimise our exposure to the virus and keep each other safe and in good physical and mental health. The number of cases has now exceeded 60,000, with over 400 deaths and continues to increase by at least 1,500 new cases each day.
With support from our headquarters in Ireland and partners across the world, the team here in Nepal continue to implement measures that maximise the health and safety of all the Umbrella children and youths during this time. As schools and colleges remain closed across the country, most of our youths are safely back living with their families or relatives, and the monthly support we provide has kept them in a stable position whilst many across Nepal face increasing economic hardship due to lockdown-related loss of work. For some youths, on a case-by-case basis, we have provided extra support to safeguard them from unnecessary hardship.
We have also been running lots of online workshops for our youths to keep them occupied and learning throughout the extended lockdowns. These cover a range of topics from sexual/reproductive health, careers, consent, and also mental health which is particularly important during this time.
We have also prepared emergency food supplies to distribute to our youths and their families, as we fear ongoing lockdowns in the country (and neighbouring India) will impact prices of essential goods in the markets in the short term. Vegetable prices have fluctuated since April due to disruption to supply chains. To date, we have provided 16 youths and their families with food relief multiple times, and will continue to do so.
Even though this year has not ‘gone to plan’ for all of us, your ongoing support means so much to us and has enabled us to support our youths even further throughout this pandemic. Thank you all.
With our sincerest gratitude, and our good wishes,
The Umbrella Foundation team in Nepal.
