COVID-19 One Life Impact | Global Impact
Much like here in America, COVID-19 continues to disrupt lives around the globe. Some of our One Life countries are doing better than others. South Africa has had some of the most stringent government regulated Covid precautions in the world. Thailand has managed the pandemic where transitions from lockdown to back to normal have been almost seamless. India is still in lockdown—the country opened, but with nationwide Covid flare ups lockdown has resumed.
South Africa has started opening their public schools by staggering grade levels and our 7th, 11th, and 12th graders are back in class. We have received local government and rural chief permissions to reopen our care centers and all students attending school are back at our daily homework clubs, complying with social distancing, masks and hand washing requirements. The rest of our One Life children not yet back at school are receiving weekly visits from our staff where they continue to assess home situations and physical needs, and provide educational worksheets, books, and activities so our kids can continue learning while out of the classroom. Our college-age kids are doing their classes online.
The global poverty and hunger relief organization, Oxfam, recently announced that South Africa is currently the epicenter of global covid-related hunger. Children in vulnerable communities all over the country are starving. Many families ran out of food money in April and there are reports of mothers feeding their children wild plants to stave off the hunger. One Life will continue to care for the children in our program and also continue exploring ways to come alongside the communities they're living in, with solutions that will help alleviate some of the suffering. We are still delivering crisis food packs to our families who are in need.
For whatever reasons, Thailand has fared relatively well during the pandemic. All of our One Life children have been able to return to school this month. This summer Grace House was able to complete several projects and updated their kitchen and dining hall before the children returned. At several of our sites, the older kids have worked hard getting their campuses ready for the new school year. Our One Life kids who are completing skills training continue to work their programs online. There has also been significant progress made in our community development projects as communities have come to realize the importance of self-sustainability during a time of crisis.
In India since the country is still in lockdown, school has been suspended. Our staff are traveling significant distances to make regular visits to our children in their villages and are checking in on our kids and their caregivers regularly. During these visits they are praying and doing bible stories/studies, tutoring, and assessing physical and medical needs. At one of our sites, local church members have taken the children without families into their own homes and are caring for them during this Covid season. With so many families out of work, our partners and church planting pastors are spending more time in their communities assessing the needs and brainstorming ways to meet them.
Please continue to pray for us. This season has been disruptive and complicated. We are grateful to you for the continued support of your sponsored child and our One Life program—your faithfulness has not gone unnoticed.