The Oda COVID-19 Fund

What does coronavirus preparedness look like when you are a two hour walk from the nearest road, five hours from the closest hospital, and highly dependent on labour out-migration and food imports to cover your everyday needs?

The Oda Foundation, working closely with the Government of Nepal, is doing an incredible job at answering those questions by ramping up its work in Odanaku, a remote village in Nepal's Mid-Western region. Oda's geographical remoteness has not protected it from the global pressures of the pandemic. Just five weeks into a countrywide lockdown, the crisis is introducing unprecedented challenges to a community already grappling with a distinct set of vulnerabilities. 

Please read below about the amazing work the Oda Foundation is doing to respond to these challenges - from adapting its existing facilities to ensure the continuation of critical medical care, to developing and disseminating worksheets to make sure kids can continue learning despite schools closing and the absence of internet, to the distribution of food to families most vulnerable to food scarcity (e.g. those without their own land). 

About The Oda Foundation (Oda)
Oda helps local governments in rural Nepal provide critical services such as healthcare and education to their communities. Our dedicated team has been living and working in Oda nonstop since 2013, allowing us to be a deeply trusted partner of the communities we serve.

What the COVID-19 Fund will Combat:

1. Food & Economic Insecurity: With lockdown measures being enforced, households dependent on migrant labor (almost all) are no longer receiving their wages to cover their family's food needs. Households with fields for agriculture will run out of food soon - demanding the need for a local food bank to be established.
2. Healthcare Constraints: The pandemic has not put a pause medical patient needs outside of COVID-19. Our healthcare team is prepared to provide for its regular flow of patients while simultaneously mitigating COVID-19 risks, but we need support! Fun fact, we delivered a healthy baby boy during week 3 of the lockdown!
3. Education Constraints: With school children at home indefinitely the world is turning to online and other tech-based solutions. Because our communities lack a basic power supply, we have begun designing worksheets and distributing them (safely) to households, however printing worksheets for an entire school every week requires a great deal of resources! 

By contributing to this campaign, you are helping us sustain and scale up our response. Every donation will be directly invested in the community and will provide real and tangible support to those that need it most.

We hope you are staying healthy and safe, and wish to sincerely thank you for considering supporting our work in these difficult times.