Join the Oda Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund
The Oda Foundation is headquartered in and named after the remote village of Oda - we are two hours from the nearest road and 12 hours from the nearest equipped hospital. Our dedicated team has been living and working in Oda nonstop since 2013, providing critically needed healthcare, education, and community support - our hospital alone has treated over 65,000 patients. We have been diligently responding to the COVID-19 threat since it became a public health crisis in Nepal.
Responding to COVID-19
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.
- Economic Pressures: With limited economic opportunities available in Oda beyond subsistence farming, labor migration is an important source of income for the vast majority of households. With global lockdowns in place, many migrant workers are finding themselves without work and unable to send back money used by families for critical expenses such as food, medical emergencies, and school books.
- Food Supply Pressures: As incomes dwindle and truck routes that connect remote communities like Oda to food supplies are closed, many households are having to rely on their own crops. This is not an option for the many households in Oda that do not have their own land, exacerbating food insecurity and malnutrition in an already highly vulnerable community.
- Healthcare Pressures: In rural areas, personal protective equipment, disinfectant, testing facilities, healthcare personnel, isolation units, and quarantine centers are exceedingly hard to come by. Because of this, healthcare providers have chosen to shut down or not admit COVID patients due to the risks involved - leaving many patients with other critical needs without crucial healthcare services.
- Education Pressures: With schools closed, much of the world is taking advantage of online and other tech-based learning. In remote communities like Oda, where internet and reliable power is not available, this is not an option, resulting in children having no way to continue their education during this extended lockdown. Increased household responsibilities resulting from school closures and lockdown measures will disproportionately be borne by women and girls.
Oda's Response
Our longstanding relationship with both the community and the government makes us uniquely placed to respond to these pressures. Since the outbreak of the virus, we have been able to leverage both our relationship with the government and our presence on the ground to make Oda more resilient in the following ways:
Economic & Food: In partnership with the local government, we have delivered over 2,000 lbs of rice to 40 families who do not have their own land to rely on. Recognizing that many households become more at risk every day, we will continue to identify families who need support moving forward.
Education: With students and teachers at home indefinitely, our education team has developed a series of worksheets that have been distributed (safely) to the households of over 300 students that attend our partner public school.
Healthcare: We have completely reconstructed our medical campus to include; a 2-bed isolation unit, a fever-screening area, and an outdoor outpatient department. We are also sending 3 staff members into the surrounding communities every day to distribute accurate information on how to stay healthy and safe. Fun fact, we have conducted one delivery during the time of the lockdown, a healthy baby boy!
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.
Find more information and photos on our work at the Oda Website.