Page 4 - Sewa Dharma Network Report 18 Dec 20

INTRODUCTION
We are living in unprecedented times. This statement
has become a cliché, but our daily reality is anything
but cliched or predictable as the coronavirus, whose
first intimations began to be heard only in late
January 2020, began to gather speed late February,
and started its havoc mid-March caught most of us
by surprise. We were unprepared, despite some
cautionary warnings by experts over the past few
years, for this global pandemic.
Spanish flu? Who remembered it? SARS and
MERS? Yes, but how many really were affected
globally? Did we not carry along, except in some
limited contexts and limited to a few countries,
with our lives as before? Ebola? Oh, it was just a
couple of countries in Africa…. It seems as if we
were all sleepwalking into this global disaster. So,
we had work to do. We did not have the luxury of
being armchair pedants blaming this or that country,
this or that institution, this or that political leader or
health expert for what we as a civilization faced.
At Sewa, we began to put an action plan together.
Our initial, six-pronged approach included the
following:
• Providing Sewa’s COVID-19 helpline numbers
• Supplying Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) to healthcare and other essential services
personnel
• Supporting international students by making
provisions for food and shelter
• Providing Case Management for individuals and
families requiring long-term assistance
• Conducting periodic webinars with physicians,
attorneys, and other professionals
www.sewausa.org | Dharma Coalition Report
• Assisting and protecting vulnerable people by
delivering essentials (prepared food, groceries,
medicines, etc.)
But we knew that while we could offer relief as we
have done in other disaster situations, we needed
the help and support of other Dharmic organizations
to tackle this pandemic. We understood that If we
pooled our resources we could deliver the relief
and help sought by communities across the country
more effectively and more generously.
We therefore came up with a new initiative: to bring
together Dharma and sewa (service) organizations
in the United States to commit to a Sewa Sankalpa
or Pledge of Service to care for community members
by providing necessary non-medical COVID-19
support. In return, Sewa International pledged to
work with these organizations to build capacity and
for the organizations to leverage Sewa’s expertise,
skills, and volunteer base to respond effectively
to the pandemic.More than one thousand dharma
and sewa community organizations, big and small,
were contacted to pool ideas, collaborate, and build
confidence in the communities they/we served
and lived in. The Sankalp Patra was signed by
more than 500 dharmic organizations, and about
400 organizations, in small and big ways, have
collaborated with Sewa International in fighting the
pandemic.
The COVID-19 helplines established by Sewa
International began receiving calls immediately from
stranded and worried college students who were
concerned about food, accommodation, travel, visa
status, and more importantly, about testing positive
for COVID-19. Many other requests were received
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