Goal – ₹ 53,36,000
Amount raised so far – ₹ 28,149
About the fundraiser:
The Eastern Himalaya Program (EHP) of NCF works across three states in the eastern region of India – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and West Bengal. In some of the sites, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, we have been working for over 20 years. The fundraiser aims to support 51 remote villages of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and northern West Bengal.
In most of the sites where we work, proper medical facilities are located at great distances, over unreliable and landslide-prone roads. Often, the nearest healthcare facility is either a Primary Health Centre (PHC), Community Health Centre (CHC) and Health Sub-centre (SC). After consultation with local health authorities in NCF’s project sites, we found that many of these local health centres are poorly equipped to handle COVID-19 cases. This is particularly worrying as prospects of a third wave become more real, and with the northeastern region predicted to be the epicentre. We wish to assist and supplement the health centres with Covid medical supplies and equipment to better equip them to handle cases in anticipation of the next wave.
We reached out to individual health centres to gather their medical needs. Additionally, with the help of our local networks, we identified families in some sites that needed basic ration supplies. The funds raised will enable us to supplement the supplies needed by the local health centres to handle current Covid cases and prepare for future surges.
How funds will be utilised:
The funds will be utilised to purchase Covid-care medical essentials for District Hospitals, CHCs, PHCs and sub-centres in some of the remote villages in parts of Northeast India where we currently work or have worked in the past. The items and amounts required have been determined by health practitioners. The supplies and relief material will be distributed by our own field teams in most of the sites. In some sites where we currently do not have people on the ground, our local friends and well-wishers will help distribute the supplies.
The materials include medical equipment like digital BP machine, pulse oximeters, digital thermometers, thermal scanners, oxygen cylinders, oxygen regulator, disinfection sprayer, random blood sugar test kits, PPE kits and other safety gear for medical staff, some basic medicines such as paracetamol, vitamins and zinc supplements for the health centres across 51 villages. A few centres have requested for beds, wheelchairs, stretchers, and water filters. Ration supplies were requested for 71 households in some of the sites in north Bengal.
Impact on the ground:
- Medically equipped health centres able to handle Covid cases locally in difficult to access rural areas.
- Immediate medical help for community members at each site.
- Ration supplies for some families at one site who have been economically affected by the pandemic.
Nature Conservation Foundation
At the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), our mission is to explore, understand, and conserve India’s wild spaces and species through research and responsible engagement with society. We believe in a world where nature and society can flourish together. Our efforts focus on trying to create models of conservation, conflict management and economic development that are respectful and inclusive of local human communities, and promote nature conservation, restoration, and sustainable development. In our conservation work, we stand for equity and inclusivity, and place high premium on responsible engagement with local people and ethical treatment of wild species. NCF’s team of scientists, conservationists, and field staff study and conserve highly endangered and charismatic species like snow leopards, hornbills, and elephants, and lesser-known ones like corals and rainforest trees. We work closely with local communities, governments, and the citizenry to better understand and conserve species and habitats. Currently, we carry out field work in eighteen states of India—from the high Himalaya to the coral islands of Lakshadweep, from the rainforests of the north-east to the montane grasslands of the Western Ghats. Complementing this are our nationwide efforts in nature education, citizen science, and outreach. Our work is rooted in long-term scientific research in ecology and society.
