Activity During Covid 19 Pandemic

My name is Netai and I am regular rickshaw puller and I really work hard to earn my bread for 5 of my family members and in this age of 66 years I need to work hard because my children don’t look after me. I was completely stacked with severe poverty without food and money as my work was hampered completely as all the public transport and local trains were stopped operating. Due to scarcity of money I was bound to stop taking my regular medicine for blood sugar and high blood pressure Having seen the sick condition of mine ,my mother tried to commit suicide having consumed mosquito oil but by the intervene of local people she was saved. Now the monthly ration kit supplied by Turnstone Global are giving us the respite from hunger. Now I along with my mother are able to have 3 square meal and my mother is now stress free having got the assurance of monthly ration from your end.

Our Response to Covid 19 Second wave:

The second wave from April to July 2021, of COVID pandemic in India has unleashed an unprecedented public health crisis caused due to the large-scale spread of corona virus in all parts of the country. According to the news reports, the past few months have seen more than 800,000 cases and nearly 3 lakhs reported covid related deaths in four months in different parts of the country. The health system, particularly in the large cities and urban areas, had overwhelmed by the incessant stream of COVID patients seeking medical assistance and supplemental oxygen. Therefore, team of Turnstone Global, constantly, had spread the message of adherence to COVID appropriate behavior in the communities particularly in the slum areas where the density of population are very high, along with supporting the ramping up of the public health infrastructure to prevent the crisis. In this context, Turnstone Global has launched ’A healing touch for Mankind’ initiative which inclined to support directly approx 200,000 individuals including children, disabled, elders and women by covering almost 40, 000 COVID-affected families between April to July 2021. Additionally, more than one million poor and vulnerable families, especially youths, had been indirectly supported through COVID prevention, vaccination, and food security interventions.

Turnstone Global took the following action during 2nd wave:

• Food Aid: To support 10,000 poor and vulnerable families (particularly elders, visually challenged, children) affected by the COVID with ration kits to ensure food and nutrition security for 4 months from May to August 2021. 
• Mass awareness campaign: Turnstone Global supported one million adolescent girls, boys and young women in 9 slums of Kolkata to raise awareness of how to prevent the spread of COVID including tackling stigma and myths related to vaccinations.
• Protection for COVID warriors: Turnstone Global supported 10,000 frontline health workers, social workers, local club personnel, waste management facilitators like sweepers, cleaners by gifting them personal protective equipment (PPEs, masks, gloves, face shields ) to enable their continuation in providing services to COVID patients.
• Cooked food: With Zomato India under their program’ Feed India ‘Turnstone Global distributed cooked food to 1500 daily wage earners in Kolkata in July and august 2021.
• Oxygen concentrators for COVID patients: We support the oxygen requirement for the home based Covid positive patients through our 10 oxygen concentrators along with medical consultation though video calling
• With SVP Kolkata and Jaswant Sud Charitable Trust team Turnstone Global constantly doing awareness among the masses and enabling them to get Covid vaccine. In this endeavor we are helping illiterate, underprivileged, disabled and elderly people to register on the Cowin aap and helping them to get vaccinated on time. Our target to enable 5 lakh people to get their vaccine.
• In association of Give India Foundation Turnstone Global provide direct Cash Relief of Rs 30, 000 each to 60 needy families whose only bread earner has died due to Covid

Supporting children whose parents has died with Covid:

The team Turnstone Global has noticed that the children are suffering from depression whose one/ both parents have died in this pandamic. Apart from depression they have to face social humiliation like the female and male children are being forced for early marriage and child laborers respectively .

Having worked with the close proximity with such vulnerable families our team

• saved 26 girls from early marriage,
• stop 64 male children to become child labour
• 400 children have been encouraged to pursue further studies
• 530 children were being regularly counselled for 3 months to overcome their depression , anxiety and stress by giving them grief counselling for their loss of parents.

Story 1 Direct from the field

8 years Pausali lost her father in April 2921 due to covid 19. Since then Pausali gets panic attacks regularly. Being a student of our non-formal school at Basanti Colony, behind Ultadanga Railway station in Kolkata, West Bengal her mother contacted us. Our doctor did thorough check ups and diagnosed panic attack with severe malnutrition. Her mother who works as maid in a local household, is not capable to provide nutritious food and medical support .Hence We have started her psychological counselling and start providing high protein food every month.

Story 2 Direct from field

12 yrs Sumit Raj Banshi who was very regular in attending classes at our non-formal school at Basanti Colony, behind Ultadanga Railway station in Kolkata, West Bengal. He was in Std V before lock down. He was the second child of his parents. His father was working as ricksha puller and merely earn Rs. 100 per day and his mother being remain ill cannot work. His elder sister 17 years old works in a house as domestic help. With such extreme poverty the pandemic of COVID devastate his family completely. His father Umesh got affected with Covid in August 2020 and after long battle of 21 days he expired . In such turmoil situation to support his family Sumit started begging on streets to earn their daily living. In the meanwhile our field executive intervene and assure the arrangement of daily ration for his family of 3. We are also doing regular counselling to both of the siblings and their mother so that their mother may defer herself to take wrong decision like arranging early marriage for her daughter as well forcing her son to beg on street.

Activity of Turnstone Global between the Second wave and First wave of Covid 19:

Team Turnstone Global always remain inquisitive to explore new ways to help others. Between the two waves of Covid 19, to protect the eye sights of the school going children from 5 years to 15 years who were attending prolonged online classes we have designed a program for their eye screening .We along with Vision Spring had screened 9448 students in kolkata. Much to our surprise we had noticed many of them suffering from eye ailment and 1004 were needing spectacles. Subsequently we distributed the same.

Turnstone Global Relief work during Covid -19 first wave: 

Turnstone Global’s response to the first wave of COVID in 2020 was focused on reaching out to the vulnerable communities by supporting them with dry ration kit and hygiene kits, raising awareness among the communities and supporting frontline workers, medical and paramedical staff with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Our goal was to provide gender-sensitive public health support and humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable families so that the impact of the crisis on children, girls and young women is mitigated.

Our outreach

During COVID first wave, Turnstone Global reached out to 5000+ families (mostly elders and blind) with dry ration and hygiene kits, meeting the urgent needs of 1 million+ people on the ground in Kolkata, and nearby districts.

To ensure continuous online learning for the girl students during the covid pandemic, Turnstone Global distributed 3500+ internet connection in free of cost .

Safety measures for the field staff, stakeholders, as well as that of the community is of utmost importance to Turnstone Global. Keeping this in mind contactless distribution of dry ration and hygiene kits were rolled out across all its operational districts.

Moreover, the lockdown made it difficult for the field workers to conduct field visits to the sponsored families, Turnstone Global initiated follow-up through phone calls to stay connected with its community members. The dedicated officials made daily calls to understand the wellbeing, food requirement, medical condition and other needs of the families. They also counselled them on the safety and preventive measures around COVID–19. The officials and volunteers reached 35000+ girls and boys over mobile phones.

Supporting Frontline Workers

Turnstone Global stood in solidarity with the COVID-19 warriors and has been lending support to frontline workers and medical and paramedical staff with PPE kits, hygiene kits and hospital infrastructure supplementation. During the first wave of COVID, Turnstone Global distributed 19,000+ PPE kits to ASHA, ANM and Anganwadi workers and 7,000+ hospital staff. 5,000+ frontline workers were supported with hygiene kits. Additionally 30,000 triple layer surgical masks and 5, 000 gloves have been distributed.

Turnstone Global stood in solidarity with the COVID-19 warriors and has been lending support to frontline workers and medical and paramedical staff with PPE kits, hygiene kits and hospital infrastructure supplementation. During the first wave of COVID, Turnstone Global distributed 19,000+ PPE kits to ASHA, ANM and Anganwadi workers and 7,000+ hospital staff. 5,000+ frontline workers were supported with hygiene kits. Additionally 30,000 triple layer surgical masks and 5, 000 gloves have been distributed.

Together with Government Stakeholders

We engaged with the local government agencies, civil society organizations, police stations, donors and healthcare experts to spread COVID awareness messages among our beneficiaries and provide them with immediate relief measures to keep them healthy and protected during this pandemic.

Story from the field

63 years old Alaka Kali Das is the resident of B.T Road Panihati, Sukhchar,North 24 Pargana , West Bengal in small cottage . He is the only earning member of his 3 members family comprises of his bed ridden wife who broke her hip joint following an accidental fall and a daughter who is mentally retarded. Before lockdown we was employed with a small handloom factory where he used to stitch old cloths against a bare minimum salary. But after lockdown he lost his job and become hand to mouth.

While we intervene we found that all of them were in starvation almost for a week .We immediately allotted the monthly ration kit for them.

After getting the ration Kit they come out from the starvation which may cause death to his wife who is literally very much debilitated. Now Alla raka’s family is living with a hope that during such tough time they never need to be remain hungry and beside he is trying to manage some job of cleaning house hold / high rise building drains