Author: priyadarshiniseetal.ctsl0510@gmail.com

Odisha Rising Foundation through its flagship program – Covid Didi creates awareness about the Covid and the health & hygiene issues of women & girls by visiting each villages and hamlets. Covid Didi are the volunteers from the same villages who plays the vital role of facilitating activities that are being conducted by Government, NGOs, Communities and SHGs. They are the source of information sharing to different stakeholders.

From the operational villages, ORF has picked up 100 young women volunteers belonging to their communities and trained under the initiative. To become a Covid Didi volunteer, one should be within the age group of 22-35 years and fluent in local dialects, with a passion for community development. These youth volunteers have been playing a leading role in sensitising tribal communities to properly abide by the rules and guidelines issued by the state government to deal with the pandemic crisis.

ORF has established over 18 nos. of digital tuition centres across the districts of Khordha, Sambalpur and Koraputfor children affected and impacted directly or indirectly due to COVID-19. These centres facilitate new-age learnings through digital means along with scientific and modern learning multisensory materials. These centres encourage learning by doing methods where the child not only reads but also learns and memorizes the logic behind the topic.

These centres not only cater to the academic needs of the children but also their psychosocial and emotional needs. And over 345 children are benefited from it. The teachers are often the educated youth or retired Govt. school teachers of the village who are specifically trained to run these Covid Care Learning Centres. And are strictly monitored by the communities themselves which makes it more sustainable and efficient.

A Micro-enterprise development and livelihood enhancement program for the women and migrants to restore their COVID-hit businesses make them self-reliant. The Swabalambi programme has been running for restoring livelihoods of the urban slums and rural migrants. Small and existing enterprises are encouraged to restart their business which has been shut due to COVID.

We also supported over 800 women from 20 SHGs under this programme through tailoring training and provided equipment where they would start manufacturing units of cloth bags and garments. The units run in several slums and villages of Odisha and the beneficiary women could be able to make a dignified living out of it.

ORF, through the community leaders and volunteers have been working to reduce vaccine hesitancy among the tribal communities by creating awareness through developingIEC materials in local dialects. This way we could impact over 73% of vaccine hesitant people and helped them register in the COWIN app and helped scheduling vaccination dates as well as ensured the people take their jabs.

The COVID-19 crisis has putawful impacts on the unorganized work sector. People were left jobless and helpless. On top of that Odisha being a hub for migration also faced a severe blow during the reverse migration phase. In such situations, managing for 2 square meals was a challenge for many. Experts suggest the post COVID scenario will have immense adverse effects on the growth and nutrition of the kids as well as adults. Odisha Rising Foundation (ORF), at several instances have mobilized and distributed nutrition kits along with sanitation kits in Bhubaneswar, Koraput and Malkangiri districts of Odisha.

As on 1st August 2021, we fed over Twenty Thousand (20,000) individuals for over 3 months each.

It has been strategically implemented looking in to the projected Oxygen deficiency during the 3rd wave of COVID in the Rural PHCs and CHCs across the Odisha. The campaign focused mainly on places where oxygen help is hard to reach. ORF, in a move to Strengthen & improve the rural healthcare, supported by supplying medical equipments such as Oxygen Concentrators and health gears to hospitals, ASHA Workers and Anganwadi Workers.

ORF also supported with 51 nos. of Oxygen concentrators to the police hospitals across in 14 districts of Odisha.
In total ORF supported with 260 nos. of Oxygen Concentrators through this Campaigh and was widely recognized by the district magistrates, DCP of Commissionerate, Bhubaneswar Urban and Superintended of Police of over 23 districts of Odisha.