India is in crisis. Here’s a small way to help:
For any post to social media with the hashtag #WhatWeCarry4India, I’m donating $4 to PATH, a nonprofit organization procuring oxygen supplies and boosting COVID-19 testing, listed by The New York Times as one of the best resources for helping India. They’re on the ground in India (which is where my family is from), based in Seattle (which is where WWC opens), and they’re doing admirable science-driven work.
I chose $4 because one person is dying every 4 minutes in New Delhi. I know $4 doesn’t sound like a lot. But, as of this writing, it’s almost 300 rupees. And that is something.
Here’s what to do: Post using the hashtag #WhatWeCarry4India to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. (The post doesn’t have to be about What We Carry and be about the crisis in India, global vaccine and resource inequities, and/or a list of resources to which people can donate.)
If you are able to donate directly to any of the wonderful organizations below, including PATH, all the better.
Ketto (This crowdfunding site is focused specifically on oxygen cylinders and concentrators.)
Red Cross India
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
OXFAM
International Medical Corps
World Central Kitchen (I learned about this organization from fellow PRH author and Food Network “Chopped” judge Maneet Chauhan. WCK is providing meals to over-strained hospitals.)
Lastly, a word about India, which too often is painted with a broad brush as a country in squalor. India has over one hundred billionaires. Its fairly prosperous middle class is larger than the entire population of the United States. I feel compelled to share this because people sometimes assume that my family came from a shanty, that the current crisis there could never happen here in America.
It’s worth pointing out that India weathered the pandemic adeptly for a long stretch, with lower death rates than in the U.S. (statistics from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine here). The political recklessness there—a result of a nationally elected leader’s desire to hit the campaign trail and hold public rallies—could have happened anywhere, and indeed recalls a cavalier, narcissistic, politically fueled disregard of science we have seen our share of in the States (more on that here).
It’s worth noting that India is the world’s largest producer of vaccines. As a country, it has not only given America yoga and turmeric and chai. It is also likely responsible for the life-saving injection that went into your arm. A culture isn’t just what we take from it. Please give however you can. Donations, including small ones, are making an enormous difference on the ground. Every bit helps.