India records more than 60,000 new infections with Covid-19 every day and only the USA and Brazil are currently affected even more severely. Again and again, regional lockdowns must be imposed. Usthi does not expect schools to open soon and tries to teach Usthi students at a distance as good as possible. 

For some of the Usthi project locations, the measures to control the spread of Covid-19 were not expected to be eased until mid-August at the earliest. Since there are no signs of a significant decline in new infections, it is currently difficult to predict when the return of classroom teaching will be possible. West Bengal recently recorded a sharp increase in the number of cases and imposed another lockdown.

All Usthi schools must remain closed. The staff of the Usthi schools Ananda, Penthakata and Thaddeus are doing extraordinary work to teach the children and youth from distance. Recorded lessons are sent to the children digitally. The children are required to work hard and have to acquire a large part of the school material independently. In order to quickly resolve any ambiguities, they are supported in self-study by regular phone calls with their teachers.

Hyderabad is also experiencing a significant increase in Covid-19 cases. The school children supported by Usthi must likewise continue to study at home and the professional skills training centers must keep their doors closed. Only the garment factory operated by the partner organization is slowly restarting operations. While large orders are rare, the partner, financed by donations, is currently producing protective masks for people in need.

Fortunately, the hospital in the Somagiri jungle region is able to maintain its operation. The early childhood development program is currently not taking place in the designated rooms. Instead, the Usthi social workers are trying to continue the program in a reduced form outdoors in the villages where they live themselves.

Usthi hopes that the number of cases will soon decrease and that the projects will be able to continue in their usual form, so that young people can continue to have the best possible access to education and health care.

While in Switzerland, school life is expected to return to almost normal after the summer holidays, school children in the Usthi projects are still being taught from a distance. 

With the nationwide lockdown to control the Covid-19 pandemic, all educational institutions in India had to close. While in many places the restrictions have been eased or only apply regionally, the school buildings are still closed to the children. Nevertheless, after the end of the summer holidays in June, classes have started again and the children are taught at a distance in various forms. In the Usthi schools the teachers meet daily on the school grounds to work on the material and make it available to the children. The school lessons are recorded on video and then sent to the pupils by mobile phone. The pupils then meet in small learning groups, as by far not all families have a smartphone.

In addition to the digitally provided lessons, the children have to work on the material from the books themselves. At the Ananda school, the children can also pick up worksheets from the school grounds and bring them to the school for correction. If possible, all children are accompanied by their teachers on the phone, and at Ananda there is sometimes a personal exchange between teachers and schoolchildren, always respecting the protective measures. In Penthakata, the accompaniment is only possible from a distance, as the place is again in lockdown due to high case numbers.

Digitally supported home schooling also takes place in Hyderabad. Since many children without smartphones could not benefit from the digital teaching units, the local Usthi partner has bought second-hand mobile phones for them. Usthi had expected that at least the skills training centres would be able to resume operations in July. Unfortunately this was not yet possible. However, everything is set up in such a way that operations could start again immediately when the authorities give the approval.

According to the current state of knowledge, a decision on any further easing will be taken on 15 August at the earliest. Usthi is impressed by the flexibility of the students and by the great commitment of our partner organisations and their staff in these difficult times.

In the context of virtual celebrations of National Day 2020, the Swiss Embassy reported on the second Usthi emergency relief operation made possible by the Embassy. Usthi has produced a video for this occasion. 

After Usthi had already provided emergency relief in Hyderabad, a financial contribution from the Swiss Embassy in India made it possible to further distribute food to families of the schoolchildren of the two Usthi schools in Ananda and Penthakata. Over 700 families received food aid.

The Embassy held a virtual celebration of the Swiss National Day on 1st of August. On this occasion, the Embassy also reported on the emergency relief operations it had supported. For this event, Usthi produced a video in which Executive Director Alessandra Grosse and our project partner Ratan Barik report on the situation on site.