The Sunshine Project during the Coronavirus Pandemic
The Sunshine Project in New Delhi provides homeless children with a safe environment during the day including food, clothing, healthcare, education and love. ella & sunday have been supporting the project, with help from our incredible community, by sponsoring Shanti, a 15-year-old girl who loves to read and aspires to become a doctor!
We have created nested cosmetic bags with our exclusive Jocelyn Proust prints (find them on our website). Purchased as a set of 3 or separately in various sizes and colours, 100% of the retail price for these bags will be donated to the The Sunshine Project.
On 24 March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting movement of the entire population (1.3 billion people) as a preventive measure against the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
This means that grocery stores remain open, but businesses and schools are closed. You are only allowed to leave your home to buy food, however not permitted to leave the immediate neighbourhood. If caught outside this area police will beat ‘law-breakers’ with batons.
The families connected to The Sunshine Project already live on a very limited income, and with no work due to lockdown, have run out of resources rapidly.
Food
“Hamster purchases” or buying in bulk is punishable by imprisonment. Therefore, Kuku and Priti, who run the project, are not able to buy large quantities of food to feed the children in their care. Each day, they search various shops for food and travel from house to house to divide and distribute to the children and their families.
Drinking Water
Shops in the neighbourhood have been instructed to give the children as much drinking water as needed. This is then invoiced to The Sunshine Project.
Health
For several weeks now, The Sunshine Project have been supplying daily immune boosting vitamins and homeopathic medicine. In addition, they receive soap and hand sanitiser as often as necessary.
Behind the scenes face masks have been stitched by The Sunshine Project and distributed amongst the children to protect them from the virus
So far, all the families are symptom free!
Everyday Living
Living in the slums of Delhi must be difficult at the best of times. During this crisis, we can only imagine the hardships these communities must be facing.
If a family member shows symptoms of the disease, a helpline is called, and an official puts a stamp on the patient and a sticker on the hut where they live. They then order the family to quarantine inside their hut, meaning that there are many people in a very small area for 14 days! Food and water are left at the door. The community moves out of the way when a member of the family needs to use the public toilet.
Officials will check the health of the family on a regular basis. If the symptoms worsen, the officer will take them to a camp outside the hospital where they are tested. If the tests return negative, the person will be sent home to isolate for another 14 days. If the result is positive, the patient will be admitted to hospital. No one knows exactly what will happen there. The costs of treatment for the poor are meant to be covered by the state. We shall see…
Focus
For the incredible people running The Sunshine Project, their aim is to focus on the supply of food, drinking water, medicine and hygiene. They are trying their best to remain optimistic. Negative thoughts and fear paralyse, and they just can’t afford that luxury.
The Coronavirus affects us all, but certainly the poverty-stricken experience the worst of its impact. The Sunshine children need our support and commitment now more than ever.
Please follow them on Instagram @sunshineprojectindia or on Facebook at Sunshineproject New Delhi for updates and photos of the kids during this critical time.
Rani, and the team at ella & sunday, truly appreciate any support that you can give at this time. To find out more or to purchase our cosmetic bags click here.
