The new Usthi education project in Nepal should start in spring 2020. Usthi was already looking forward to cooperating with the local partner organisation. After the successful renovation of the school infrastructure, Covid-19 has unfortunately delayed the further development of the project.

Both at the end of 2019 and during the visit at the beginning of 2020, the project setup of a new educational project in Nepal was planned with our partner organisation Unnati and the framework conditions were agreed upon. The first steps were taken at the beginning of the year with the renovation of school infrastructure. Subsequently, the next phase was to start, during which the target group and the schools to be supported in the future were to be selected.

But already during the project visit by Kurt Bürki in March 2020 it was clear that the project would not start as planned. Shortly afterwards, Covid-19 became a global issue and Nepal also imposed a lockdown despite a relatively low number of cases. This also meant a forced pause for the start-up phase of the education project.

According to our local partner, there is currently no prospect of a complete easing of the lockdown. In addition, the number of cases is currently rising sharply, which also diminishes hopes of a soon return to normality. Travel to the project region is currently only possible to a limited extent. The state has now imposed new conditions on the education sector, which must be integrated into the project.

The exact start of the project can currently only be speculated. A delay until the end of the year is unfortunately not unlikely. Usthi hopes to be able to continue the project shortly and thus support young people in Nepal in their schooling and education as soon as possible.

As of 22 June 2020, the Usthi Foundation has a new executive director, Ms Alessandra Grosse. In future she will be responsible for the management of the foundation and thus for its day-to-day operations. In addition, Olga Egli returned from her maternity leave at the beginning of June and is now again responsible for fundraising and public relations.

It is not an easy year to take over the management of an NGO. It is difficult to foresee the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the donations market and the implementation of projects in India. It is therefore all the more exciting to take over the leadership of the Usthi Foundation during this time. After an introduction by the founder Kurt Bürki and the existing Usthi team, Alessandra Grosse will take up this challenge and will be responsible for the foundation’s operative business in the future.

Ms. Alessandra Grosse, who grew up in the Italian-speaking Calanca Valley, studied biology and environmental governance at the Universities of Basel and Freiburg i. Br.. She then gained experience in development cooperation during several assignments abroad as part of her studies, an internship in Indonesia for the German Cooperation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and subsequently for almost 3 years as project coordinator for German development projects in Asia. She is thus well equipped to take responsibility for the foundation’s operative business in the future.

India is not unknown territory to her. In the context of her master’s thesis, she investigated participation possibilities of marginalised population groups in Karnataka. Part of the investigation was a three-month research in the field. During the last three years she has also travelled regularly to India, especially Northeast India, in order to coordinate the planning and implementation of German development projects together with local partners.

She will be supported in her new role by Olga Egli, who joined Usthi in 2018 and has since taken over the role of deputy in the absence of the executive director. She returned from maternity leave at the beginning of June. Together with Christian Rübensaal, she will again be responsible for fundraising and public relations. Christian Rübensaal joined the team in the summer of 2019, initially as a temporary assistant, before taking over Olga’s maternity representation in early 2020. After her return, he continues to support her in fundraising and is responsible for the foundation’s administration.

The team is looking forward to work together and is excited to continue Usthi’s long-standing commitment to education and health together with the local partners.

When India imposed a strict lockdown at the end of March to control Covid-19, public life came to a standstill in large parts of India. Despite rising corona numbers, the lockdown was lifted for the most part at the end of May. This will also enable the Usthi projects to partially resume operations. Whether the schools will be able to reopen soon is not yet clear and is the responsibility of individual states.

The Indian population had only four hours to stock up on the essentials when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on 24 March 2020. The measures particularly affected the poorest people in the country. Countless day labourers lost their jobs and were faced with no income from one day to the next. The, for the most part, single mothers of the school children supported by Usthi in Hyderabad also lost their income. Thanks to generous donations, Usthi and our local partner were able to help them with an emergency relief campaign.

The Usthi projects also almost came to a complete stop during this time. At the end of May, the lockdown was lifted, despite increasing Covid-19 case numbers, in order to prevent a further downturn in the Indian economy and to minimise the socially devastating consequences for the population. With the end of the lockdown, the projects have  also been able slowly to resume operations.

In Hyderabad, where Usthi supports school children financially and with tutoring, it is currently thought that a return to regular school attendance can be expected in July at the earliest. Until then, however, distance learning will take place and the 10th graders who live in our homes will prepare for their final exams on their own. Vocational training programmes are able to start again from 1st July. Hopefully by then, all the girls and young women who had to leave the shelter due to official orders will be able to take up their places in the communal apartments again and continue their vocational training. In the current project year, there has also been a further expansion, which will now enable even more women to find a place in the shelter for victims of sexual abuse.

In West Bengal and Odisha, where the three Usthi schools are located, public life, as in all of India, was at a standstill and shops and schools had to close. In Odisha, freedom of movement had already been eased  at the beginning of May, as the lockdown had caused major supply shortages. Members of all social strata purchase their food daily, directly from farmers or traders. The restrictions had resulted in an insufficient supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to the population. In order to guarantee the daily supply again, easing measures had had to be taken even before the end of the lockdown.

Despite shops being allowed to reopen in both states at the end of May, it is still not  clear when the schooling centres will be able to resume teaching. Usthi is hoping that the education deficit will not become too large, since the lockdown was mainly during the long summer holidays. Wherever possible, the students are provided with teaching materials for self-study.

Kolkata was also struck by cyclone Amphan’s fury during the lockdown. The storm caused damage to the Ananda School grounds with uprooted trees and heavy rainfall. The families of the school children, in part,  lost  their belongings. They were supported at short notice by government food packages. Usthi hopes that school operations in the three school centres Ananda, Penthakata and Thaddeus can start again after the summer holidays, thus ensuring that the children receive basic food as well as schooling.

The  infant care operations as part of the Health and Education Project HEP in the Somagiri jungle region were also no longer possible due to official measures. However, since the staff of the health network and the HEP live in the affected communities, they were able to continue to provide local support in the health and hygiene sector. After initial easing of the situation, support can now be gradually rebuilt. In order to look after fewer children at once, we have started with two shifts per day. Due to the proximity of the Tribal Health Centre, the health of the children can be well monitored. Handmade masks have been made for their protection.

The Tribal Health Centre was able to continue operations normally during the lockdown. Due to restricted freedom of movement in the surrounding villages, however, the number of consultations fell considerably. After the lockdown, more patients have again been able to come to the hospital. As the people in the region live very simply, the villages will recover from the lockdown faster than urban areas. Usthi therefore believes that the two projects in the Somagiri jungle region will return to normality within a short space of time.

It is difficult to imagine how the Covid-19 situation in India will develop. At present, numbers are expected to continue to rise. Together with our partner organisation, Usthi will have to discuss the situation regularly and, if necessary, make adjustments to implementation of the projects. We hope, that we can continue our commitment to education, health and protection even in these difficult times.

After our projects and the beneficiaries of the Usthi Foundation were heavily affected by the lockdown, the Usthi projects are slowly resuming operations. Thanks to numerous donations, emergency aid for the affected families from the Usthi projects in Hyderabad was successfully provided and has now been completed.

Following our three video messages, we wish to inform you, by way of this newsletter, about the current condition of the children and young people in our care. Of course, problems have not simply gone away and we have new challenges to face after the Indian government’s decisions to lift the lock down on 29^th May.

The two videos from mid-April and early May have had an effect. After the first video interview with kurt Bürki (german), Usthi was in a position to provide food parcels to the unemployed mothers of our children. In the first week of May, we hoped that restrictions would be relaxed. When these, however, were then extended to 29^th May, distribution had to be started anew.  We reported on the success of the first distribution campaign in the second video (german). The extension of restrictions until the end of May was also part of that information. As a result of the appeal, a second distribution of food to families became possible.  Together with our local partner, we have distributed a total of more than 8,200 food parcels. With the COVID-19 emergency aid donations of 24,975.00 CHF received so far, Usthi was able to make a major contribution to this campaign. Thanks to the Usthi contribution and additional local donations, the local partner was able to distribute more than 8’200 food packages.

The lockdown in India has now been lifted, shops are open, trains and buses are running again and travel by plane is possible. These measures have, of course, not eradicated the economic damage of the past three months. Although Covid-19 case numbers continue to increase, the State has been forced to return to normality in social life.

Our children and teenagers are currently on official summer holidays until the third week of June. The State will later decide whether the schools can open again. Millions in the lowest social strata are returning to work trying to survive.  Only the future will show how the return to normality develops. We are far from being able to make clear plans. As if the lock down were not enough, Cyclone Amphan, last week, caused massive damage to our Ananda school campus in Calcutta. It is now our job to try to manage the daily changes in living conditions.

Here in Switzerland, the Usthi Foundation is facing enormous challenges. Covid-19 will become a question of survival for us. We shall not be able to cope with this alone. We shall only be able to fulfil  our mission with your help and that of the wider public. So much for the approaching period of uncertainty.

Thanks to your spontaneous and generous help, we have been able to survive the difficult time up to the end of May. We should like to take this opportunity to thank you for your solidarity. Our work for more justice and less discrimination continues. This is what we wish to achieve for all children. Thank you for standing by us!