The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had largely been disruptive, severely affecting lives across rural India and exposing potholes in the healthcare sector with workforce shortages, inadequate infrastructure and quality of care.

When there was a dire need for hospital beds, medical equipment and consumables in the rural sector, our volunteers worked around the clock to provide medical assistance and food to vulnerable communities.

• 1. Setting up make-shift COVID facilities
• 2. Providing essential medical consumables like oxygen, medical equipment, COVID-relief supplies and PPE kits.
• 3. Creating awareness around COVID appropriate behaviour, the importance of vaccination, and differentiating myth from facts in at-risk communities.
• 4. Our medical professionals travelled long distances to conduct medical check-ups and worked overtime to provide extensive care and support to COVID patients.
• 5. COVID-19 impacts have led to increased food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households. Our team distributed ration kits to at-risk communities to serve as sustenance to families who have lost their livelihoods in the lockdown. Our local community kitchen served up to 6,680 free meals to families in need.

Rajesh, a volunteer at a make-shift hospital in Shirpur, says, "We were committed to fighting against hunger, even with travel restrictions and lockdowns, we're in some of the hardest to reach places ensuring children and their families receive the vital care they need. We are receiving desperate calls for help from farmers living in rural areas. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have been hard hit economically - many of them being the sole bread earners for their families."

With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines came the misguided hesitancy and fear as there was a lack of trust in the safety and efficacy of the newly developed vaccines, fear of side effects and fake information, so the last key pillar of our response was to call for equitable, affordable access to COVID-19 vaccine, diagnostics, and medicines.