Community Spotlight Covid19 Response Goa outreach

Goa Outreach has been working in North Goa for many years helping to educate and empower those most vulnerable. We sat down with Founder Ishita Godinho to find out more about how they stepped up in this hour of need to not only support the individuals and families they had been working with previously, but also have come to the aid of thousands of others. There small dedicated team has not only feed thousands of migrants, but have also helped find some individuals shelter, medical assistance, and overall support throughout this lockdown period.

What made you want to stand up and volunteer your time during this lockdown?

As soon as I received news of the lockdown, I anticipated that many vulnerable and lesser privileged families would be negatively impacted. These included daily wage workers, cleaning staff, service staff, painters etc. Our team at Goa Outreach immediately decided to step in to help with relief as it was the need of the hour. We got calls from families we work with saying that they have no food at home. We stepped into action as soon as lockdown began and after the first two weeks realised we would need to continue this for the duration of the lockdown. We are all strongly motivated by the belief that nobody should sleep hungry, especially when they are not responsible for this current circumstance.

Can you tell us a little about Goa Outreach and it normally does as an organization in Goa?

Goa Outreach is a registered charitable trust that works towards empowering and educating lesser privileged children and women. We enroll children to school, provide them with all school requirements and even run an after school centre for children where they can learn and grow in a safe environment. We look after more than 200 children in North Goa. We strongly believe that every child deserves a fair chance at a decent education.

What has Goa Outreach been doing to support marginalized communities during this lockdown period?

We have been working with other citizen led groups to ensure that ration reaches those in need. We receive direct distress calls from families and migrants as well as receive cases from the Goa Humanitarian helpline. We start our day by buying ration, packing it into individual packs and in the second half we set out for distribution. I think we have distributed over 5000 individual packs in the past month. These packs include dal, rice, atta, onions, potatoes, chilli and soap. Each packet lasts an individual upto a week.
We also make it a point to speak to the individuals we are assisting about their work and livelihood in hope of finding them work once the lockdown is relaxed.

What are some of the difficulties you have faced while trying to do this work?

The sheer numbers have been overwhelming, we had no idea that Goa is a work hub for so many daily wage and migrant workers. Each basti / community would have 400 + people who would start lining up as soon as we went, even though we intended to distribute ration to only those whose names we had, it is always hard to say no to someone who says they have nothing for their next meal. Another task at hand is ensuring that the people we are providing to have not been provided by other groups or governments. We understand that it is an uncertain time and people have the tendency to hoard, but we worry that by giving people who have already received, we may miss out on those really in need.

What has been the most rewarding part of this experience?

For me, it would be the learning and the lessons. We will definitely use all our on ground experience to create more sustainable and comprehensive plans for the children and the communities we work with.

What is something you would want to tell people sitting at home about the work you are doing or the communities you are working with? Something they should learn?

I feel like no matter how much we read or hear, being on the ground is a whole different ball game. These individuals we are helping are out of work due to a global crisis, not because they are lazy or incapable. In addition to being jobless, penniless and hungry they are living with the uncertainty of not knowing when they can go home. To add to their flight, they live as large groups in tiny rooms that often do not even have a fan. They lead a difficult life, and we should support them in whatever capacity we can.

How many volunteers are you working with to do this work?

We are blessed to have a small but efficient network of volunteers, we currently have 5 full time volunteers who help with packing and distribution. We also have tried to hire a few people in dire need of employment to help us pack for a few hours a day and we compensate them for the same. We have been getting a lot of requests from people who want to volunteer with us on ground but since we are in the middle of a health crisis we prefer to work with a small group of young, healthy individuals who live alone or with no older people.

How many migrants/day laborers have you feed/supported thus far?

We have supported over 5000 individuals in need in the past 1 month and have been going back to certain small groups on a weekly basis. This has been possible because of the generous support we have received from family, friends and concerned citizens.