Door2Door Safe Re-Opening Campaign
On May 18, as India began to re-open after five weeks of lockdown, VisionSpring launched the Door2Door community awareness campaign to help educate people on coronavirus and stem the spread in communities. Our team is distributing kits to households across 13 states, in over 50 districts, that contain graphic-led information leaflets about infection prevention, handwashing, and mask-wearing, along with soap, detergent, and five washable cloth masks.
128 team members across India are part of this distribution effort, going out into their local communities to bring awareness and resources. All of them have all completed hours of training on COVID-19 safety, protection, IPC (infection prevention and control), and community engagement.
Our goal is to reach 100,000 individuals. As of June 3rd, after only two weeks of distribution, our team has reached over 50,000 people!
The cloth masks that are part of the distribution kit were produced in partnership with the Delhi-based Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a garment and handicraft cooperative that is led and run by women artisans. Since 2016, VisionSpring has worked with SEWA through our See to Earn program to ensure the artisans can see the details of their exceptional craftwork. For the women who needed eyeglasses, clear vision helped them produce more aptly and efficiently, securing economic security and self-reliance as artisans.
However, coronavirus, coupled with Delhi’s red-zone lockdown, created new financial strains for many of the SEWA artisans. VisionSpring’s commission of 100,000 cloth masks created an opportunity for 200 women to work from home, using their skills to stitch two-ply, cotton pleated cloth masks that help in preventing community transmission. Many of these women have told us that producing cloth masks is bringing relief during an economically unstable period.
The women of SEWA
Miraj, who lives in Delhi, has been associated with SEWA for the past five years. Due to the coronavirus lockdown in Delhi, she was struggling to find work and having difficulties making ends meet. She describes it as an acute financial crisis. SEWA, in partnership with VisionSpring, gave her an opportunity to sew cloth masks. As soon as she heard of the work, Miraj took it up immediately. Sewing cloth masks for community distribution was a way for Miraj to earn an income, and work from home during the lockdown. She says, “I really hope that I keep getting more of this work producing masks in the future. In fact, I got my pair of glasses from here [VisionSpring] also!”
In addition to Miraj’s story, Shabnam ben (in the image to the right) has also been producing cloth masks from her home in Delhi. She says that while the pandemic has brought economic hardship, sewing the masks has been a relief. She is wearing VisionSpring eyeglasses as she sews!