Page 20 - The Indian EYE 043021

NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline
task force focused on providing
India with critical medical sup-
plies, oxygen and other assis-
tance. It includes a new portal
where U.S. firms can offer in-
kind donations.
Sewa International USA, a
Houston, Texas-based nonprof-
it that works in the areas of di-
saster recovery, education, and
development has launched a
‘Help India Defeat COVID-19’
campaign to ship oxygen con-
centrators to Indian hospitals.
As a second wave of
COVID-19 overwhelms In-
dia’s healthcare system causing
an acute shortage of oxygen,
ventilators, and hospital beds
across the country, several Indi-
an-American organizations and
individuals have sprung forward
to help.
Sewa International says
it has raised $5,784,807, as of
April 29, in its $10 million goal in
a fundraiser started on April 23, ed States has dispatched 500 ygen in India’s capital” the sup- AIF press release.
2021 on Facebook. The funds oxygen concentrators to Delhi ply is in response to the oxygen
are being used to procure med- as of April 29, 2021. Meant to S.O.S. by the Delhi State gov- cal governments, hospitals, and
ical equipment supplies, as well “swiftly shore up supplies of ox- ernment, NIT said quoting an stakeholders to understand the
as getting the equipment and es-
sential supplies to hospitals, in-
stitutions, and individuals in In-
dia, News India Times reported.
Some 2,584 oxygen-con-
centrators have already been
shipped to the country.
Sewa is also providing food
and medicines to about 10,000
families and more than 1000
orphanages, and senior citizen
centers across the country, ac-
cording to a press release from
the organization.
Sewa’s Vice President for
Marketing and Fund Develop-
ment Sandeep Khadkekar, re-
sponding to the overwhelming
support for their fundraising
campaign said, “We are deeply
moved by the response we have
received from all of you for our
fundraiser. Sewa appreciates
your willingness to donate for
a cause that would save many
lives in India. Our top priority
is to procure and ship oxygen
concentrators to India as soon
as possible.”
The American India Foun-
dation, a leading non-govern-
mental organization in the Unit-
APRIL 30, 2021 | The Indian Eye 20
US air Force aircraft arrives at the indira Gandhi international airport cargo terminal in
new Delhi on Friday, with COViD material. (ani)
The AIF is working with lo-
needs from cities to rural vil-
lages. “Our 20 years of working
Us to imPose within these systems and our
expansive network allows us
traVeL baN from iNdia to quickly direct equipment to
where it is needed,” it assured
he Biden administration is set to enact a travel ban on those who wish to donate.
Connecticut’s large Indi-
any non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents coming an-American community is
Tto the country from India as multiple coronavirus vari- raising money and awareness.
ants have driven India’s COVID-19 outbreak to troubling new They’re also dealing with trauma
heights. The policy will take effect starting on Tuesday, the
White House said. due to being unable to help as
India had already been under a Level 4 – Do Not Travel family members grow sick or die.
advisory from the State Department, which issued or updated “It almost looks like the plague
of the 1900s. It shouldn’t,” said
scores of travel advisories related to the continued spread of Srividya Srinivasan, President of
the coronavirus last week. The new ban will take the precaution the Kerala Association of Con-
to a new level.
The policy will not apply to U.S. citizens, a Biden adminis- necticut. “Every household now
tration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Law- almost has one person infected.
It’s that bad in India.”
ful permanent residents and other people with exemptions Every day the news grows
would also be allowed to travel from India to the United States. grimmer. Bodies dropped off
As part of existing restrictions on international passengers, at families’ doorsteps or burned
anyone arriving in the U.S. would still be subject to coronavirus in parking lots as hospitals and
testing measures and must enter quarantine if they have not
been vaccinated. morgues overflow.
The travel ban is being imposed on the advice of the Cen- The charity is pushing a mas-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, according to White sive fundraising effort hoping to
fund PPE, aid, and most of all,
House press secretary Jen Psaki. In a statement issued Fri- oxygen. “In one day, we were
day, Psaki said, “The policy will be implemented in light of ex- able to get to almost $3,000.
traordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants That is so useful…The resourc-
circulating” in India.
es need to keep coming.”
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