Volunteers go in search of undocumented poor people and care home residents

From the daily wage labourer in Pettah to the wayside vade seller, informal sector earners were among the hardest hit groups during the more than 50- day- long lockdown -- and due to most of them being undocumented, they were overlooked by area politicians and state authorities in relief distribution.

This grim reality was highlighted by a number of civil society organisations involved in providing relief to daily wage earners, low income families, elderly and disabled persons, domestic workers, women headed families, single parent families. Most of them spend their lockdown days in misery with no income and some in hunger.

“Women were crying showing us how little food they had in their houses. One had just a small coconut and handful of rice. Some women were expecting, some had small children,” said We- BuildColombo- Together project volunteer Nirmanie Liyanage. The group is involved in providing relief to low income communities in Colombo city and works together with community development councils registered with the Colombo Municipal Council.

“Those who were trapped in boarding houses were not eligible for both the government allowance of Rs. 5000 and any reliefs provided by Municipal Council members or other politicians. It was the same for those working in informal sectors. Therefore, they had to be identified and we were able to reach out to persons like these. There were single parent families and when the parent is jobless the whole family suffers,” she said.

An urban planner by profession, Ms. Liyanage said long- term livelihood support was very much needed after this pandemic was brought under control to empower vulnerable communities.

Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, President of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, said unlike any other disasters, volunteers could not be mobilised immediately as there was a direct threat to their health.

“As I am a public health specialist, I knew the risk involved. And in keeping with the government’s guidelines, initially awareness programmes was carried out among communities on safety measures such as social distancing, hand washing and cough etiquettes,” Dr. Ariyaratne said.

He said they identified daily wage workers, low income families, families living below the poverty line and other most vulnerable community members for immediate relief.

“Unlike middle and upper middle class people, these persons or families solely depended on daily wages. They did not have money to stock food items and was unable to find any work due to the lockdown,” he said.

Dr. Ariyaratne said Sarvodaya Shramadana Societies based in Colombo and otherareas played a significant role in coordinating and dispersing the much- required relief packages to vulnerable communities.

He said the Presidential Task Force had requested the Civil Society Collective for COVID 19 to look into the welfare of care homes including staterun and private children’s homes, elders' homes, rehabilitation centres, probation centres, safe houses for women and centres for people with disabilities.

Accordingly, more than 2,500 children in 187 children’s homes and 6,750 persons in 143 elders’ homes, 40 homes for special needs persons, seven safe houses, four rehabilitation centres and one probation centre in the country have benefited from the programme to supply food, medical items and hygiene products.

“If the situation escalates, there is a need to increase the distribution capacity of cooked food, dry rations and medicine targeting the most vulnerable elderly population and disabled people with the support of youth volunteers,” he said, stressing the importance of establishing a mechanism to manage the immediate economic crisis targeting daily wage workers, domestic workers, women- headed families and small and medium business holders.

CareStation was another group involved in reaching out to vulnerable communities with dry rations and food supplies.

“We have seen people crying out for help. Daily wage owners, single parent families, widows and those with disabilities are pleading for help,” said Khalid Cassim, one of the co-founders of the organisation.

“Civil society organisations eagerly stepped in with the support of security forces. Most organisations are equipped with young volunteers, all clad in masks and gloves distributing dry ration such as rice, dhal, canned fish, sugar, tea leaves, coconut, onions and potatoes to low income households, ” he said.