It has been over a year since the COVID-19 Pandemic began, and the US and Europe are seeing cases decrease, restrictions ease, and vaccination rates on the rise. It’s clear that across the globe, many have the privilege of comfortable settling into a new normal as they inch ever closer to their old one.
This is not everyone’s reality, however, a fact that we were reminded of last week when news outlets began reporting the devastating toll COVID-19 has brought upon citizens in India. As the B.1.167 variant—thought to possess increased transmissibility and reduced neutralization potential—spreads like wildfire, it has left death, destruction, and frustrations in its wake. India has been consistently reporting upwards of 300,000 cases and 3,000 deaths per day. Across the nation, there is a dangerous lack of hospital beds, antiviral drugs, coronavirus test kits, and even oxygen cylinders and concentrators for patients on ventilators, shortages that have led to hundreds of patient deaths. Even one of the nation’s best-equipped, multi-specialty hospitals ran out of oxygen, forcing the families of patients to buy cylinders for their loved ones, often through the black market.
But as cases are trending down in the comparatively well-off capital, so has media attention and social media campaigns, even as the virus has begun to spread to impoverished states and rural areas with considerably fewer resources. While attention to India seemed ubiquitous last week, talk—and the urgency of assistance—has quieted. All the while, people are dying from lack of care, their bodies disposed of in the Ganges River due to the increased price of cremation.
While the crumbling medical infrastructure in India seems insurmountable, there are always ways we can and should help. Nonprofits, physician groups, and lone volunteers are all working to get resources and care to the country. While many Muslims see Ramadan as a time to donate and meet Zakat requirements, generosity—for observers and non-observers alike—should be year-round. Our ability and inclination to give should never be contingent on a time of year or state of mind. Below are a list of campaigns and nonprofits assisting India in its time of need. We urge you to donate and help any way you can. Above all, as another Ramadan comes to a close, let us remember to carry the gentleness and selflessness of Ramadan with us throughout the year, let us open our hearts and include in our prayers all those that continue to suffer in India, and let us donate and share our blessings whenever possible.
- The Hope Foundation
This organization provides care for abandoned children in Kolkata and supports a hospital in the region, not functioning solely as a COVID-19 center - GO Campaign
This organization helps the world’s vulnerable by partnering with local groups and grassroots efforts. Their campaign for India aims to feed families in the nation’s largest slum, provide PPE to children and families, provide food for groups suffering from shutdowns, and more. - United Visions International
This US physician-led organization raises funds to purchase critical equipment before assuring its delivery to New Delhi hospitals and local organizations - GoFundMe
US physician-led campaign organized Dr. Ruchi Talwar, a resident at Penn Medicine