Since the last Rapid Response Fund (RRF) overview at the end of May 2020, GoPhil partners have continued to face incredible challenges in each region while also making enormous strides. We have published dozens of direct reports these last few months, but wanted to take this opportunity to review, as a whole, the astounding amount of success we have seen from an incredibly passionate and determined group of humanitarians working on the frontlines across the globe.
Thanks to the amazing and generous response of the GoPhil Community, we have been very fortunate to successfully approve all RRF requests received from GoPhil partners since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“These last several months have been an immense learning experience for all of us at GoPhil. When the crisis hit we quickly realised we needed to put aside usual grant processes and develop a system that would allow us to respond to partner requests far quicker than normal. GoPhil partners’ needs were incredibly urgent and they were often facing life-threatening situations in their communities. We wanted to approve requests and get funds out the door within 24 – 48 hours. The incredible response from the GoPhil Community has meant that we raised more funding than we ever expected – the consequence of which has been responding positively to every single request we have received from GoPhil partners – something we can all be incredibly proud of!”
• Emily Bild, GoPhil Director of Programs •
To date, thanks to your incredible support and solidarity, the Rapid Response Fund has:
- Raised more than $160,000 to support GoPhil partner and community emergency needs related to the COVID-19 crisis;
- Distributed approximately $100,000 (and counting!) of funds raised to GoPhil partners in just three month’s time;
- Repurposed more than $13,000 in existing grants;
- Successfully provided grants to 21 GoPhil partners;
- Reached over 9,500 families (and counting!) with emergency support to help partners provide the most essential needs – such as food, water and hygiene supplies – to their communities.
- This means that, based on average family sizes, an estimated 47,000+ individuals have been reached via GoPhil grassroots partners.
PRESENT SITUATION
The following is an overview of work happening on the frontlines at GoPhil partner programs around the globe with your continued support of the Rapid Response Fund.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN KENYA
Maji Moto Enkiteng Lepa School repaired a water borehole in early July so villagers and livestock have a safe and stable drinking water supply again, while continuing to provide safe housing and food to 18 girls from the Enkiteng Lepa School.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN VIETNAM
Children’s Education Foundation continued providing emergency financial support which has now reached 126 families since the beginning of the crisis. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Catching Up with Children’s Education Foundation.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN VIETNAM
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation rescued 23 trafficking survivors since January and supported 81 additional rescues accomplished by local authorities. Please take a moment to view this video of appreciation from Blue Dragon: https://youtu.be/3D9ksaUk7xY
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN CAMBODIA
Free To Shine provided food support to 62 adults and 92 children, along with 6 month of support for an Education Officer’s salary, as well as phone and internet credit for 50 girls to sustain online learning. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Emergency Food Packages Delivered by Free To Shine.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN CAMBODIA
PEPY Empowering Youth supported 11 families with food relief in May, and in June 5 families received additional support. A 2nd delivery in June focused on sustainable home garden solutions. 11 families have also been equipped with water filters.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN CAMBODIA
Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) supported 20 students in June and July with emergency relief and a further 12 students with phone top up cards for online learning. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Emergency Response Continues at JWOC.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN CAMBODIA
HUSK successfully provided food support to 7 women and their families from the Softies Program, all of whom recently started making school uniforms for the upcoming school season.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN INDIA
SMS Center delivered food and hygiene parcels to more than 100 women in brothels on GB Road. Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) members organized kits for 600 more women and the Minister for Women and Child Development came to help distribute them. Learn more in this recent blogpost, SPID-SMS Center Making Impact in Times of Crisis.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN INDIA
TARA Community Outreach Centre has distributed dry rations to approximately 300 people on a weekly basis. Beyond the humanitarian aid, they have also raised awareness about the virus and safety precautions one must take. The TARA team has remained in close contact with the community monitoring health issues and domestic violence, which as per multiple studies, has been on the rise. TARA Outreach Centre is hopeful to reopen within the next two or three months.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN INDIA
Shakti Shalini successfully reached more than 200 families with food relief since the pandemic began. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors in the Midst of a Global Pandemic.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN INDIA
AVANI has provided 720+ meals each day to children of migrant/day laborers in brickyard labor camps, waste picker slums and sugarcane farms since the crisis began, procured and distributed 3,600+ monthly food packages to waste picker families, widows, sex workers and transgender individuals, established 3 new shelters to care for, feed and clothe homeless men and women displaced during lockdown, and received orders to produce 12,000+ face masks organzied and created by women from the waste picker slums.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN INDIA
Vikalp Sansthan responded to 50+ domestic violence cases, resolved more than 70 migrant worker cases, helped more than 1,000 vulnerable people access wheat from government schemes, and distributed 2,000 Essential Grocery Kits, 6,000 Masks, 6,500 Sanitary Pads, 6,000 Bars of Soap, 50 Bottles of Sanitizer and 2,400 meals to migrants returning home at the railway station.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN NEPAL
PHASE Nepal finished distributing support to PWDS in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, reaching more than 200 PWDs with dry food items or medical supplies or cash based on their choice. Learn more in this recent blogpost, COVID-19 Reaches Rural Communities in Far-West Nepal.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN NEPAL
Child Rescue Nepal successfully setup 4 community hand washing stations to stop virus spread, and has delivered 650 food parcels containing rice, lentils, salt, oil and soap and can feed a large family for over a month (£28 each), 90 liters of hand sanitizer, 90 liters of liquid soap, 4,500 masks, 4,500 pairs of gloves and 900 hygiene kits.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN GUATEMALA
Comunidad La Esperanza distributed food parcels and hygiene kits to 40 students and their families in Chimaltenango. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Hands that Give with Love Never Return Empty.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN GUATEMALA
Aula Mágica delivered 80 food parcels to 27 facilitators and their families in Quiché, Sololá, Retalhuleu and Huehuetenango, 22 students and their families in Retalhuleu, and 31 students and their families in Chiantla, Huehuetenango.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN GUATEMALA
EntreMundos reached 522 families with emergency food supplies utilizing small grants to 8 small, community-led NGOs. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Community-Led Philanthropy in Action.
WITH RRF SUPPORT IN GUATEMALA
ASSADE has continued to work in remote rural communities providing medical care and health services, while also educating indigenous communities about the risks of the virus. Learn more in this recent blogpost, Rapid Response Funds in Action in Guatemala.
“We have always known how committed and impressive GoPhil partners are and how important their work is to their communities, but seeing how they have stepped up overnight into the role of first-responders to the crisis in their communities has been absolutely awe-inspiring to witness. Many of their teams have been working round the clock to support their community members in any way they can and I am so thrilled that we’ve been able to play a small role in supporting their amazing efforts.”
• Emily Bild, GoPhil Director of Programs •
SECURING THE FUTURE
We are hugely grateful for all support we have received to the Rapid Response Fund, and now is the time to start turning our attention toward fulfilling partner program grant commitments for 2021. The support GoPhil donors provide to partner programs – primarily, core operating costs – is more important than ever before. We must prioritize being able to continue this support over the next few years, which we imagine will be incredibly challenging for grassroots organizations in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Now several months into surveying the landscape and learning how to adjust and operate amidst a global pandemic, GoPhil partners are focusing on long-term solutions and self-sufficiency. Supporting and encouraging community garden development in lieu of ongoing food parcel distribution, adapting programs to work around strict lockdowns, or focusing on ensuring sustainability and staff salaries are just a few examples of what partners are committed to at the moment.
