June 19, 2020
Here are a few of this week's top stories from our ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts to provide essential provisions to those most vulnerable of suffering from starvation. We are currently working in 16 countries to meet this growing need, and to date we have served over 64,000 people.
Bangladesh: Almost 10,000 Individuals Have Received Aid
June 17 | To date, we have provided essential food aid to 9,507 individuals in Bangladesh. At a recent distribution in Chittagong, one of our team members shared about his experience giving food to a particular beneficiary. He said, “When I handed over this gift, she cried and said that they have not eaten for days. Now they will cook and eat. They are very happy and grateful to you. They will never forget your help." During this same distribution, our staff also met a recipient who is a widowed mother. Before the pandemic and lockdowns, she had been working as a housemaid at several homes in her area. Without her daily earnings, the woman has been unable to provide food for her family. We are grateful that we were able to meet her needs for a couple weeks.
Philippines: 600 Food Packs Distributed in Cebu
June 16 | Our team was able to distribute 600 relief packages containing rice, detergent, pasta, and tomato sauce. Our trusted contact said, "The line was long that morning, but it was great to see all those people receiving food. ... Thanks again for the privilege of showing the love of Jesus to these folks, for being our partner!"
South Asia: 21 Families Receive Aid
June 15 | This distribution was to a group of daily wage earners and their families, all in desperate need of food. To date in this particular country in South Asia, we've distributed food to almost 19,000 individuals! During this project, our team in the field met a 42-year-old single mother and said, "She has five children, and her husband married another wife, leaving her. She does a labor job in constructing houses to support her family. Due to the lockdown, her work stopped, and she lost the source of income through which her family meets their basic needs. She was in trouble due to the lockdown. She has the responsibility of feeding her five children alone, and her family has to go through shortage of food. … She had no food left to eat. She was lucky to receive relief aid distributed … this will certainly help her family to survive in this catastrophe. She was overwhelmed with joy and happiness."
South Asia: Food and Water Distributed to Migrant Workers Returning Home
June 13 | This past week, LJI staff distributed food packets and water bottles to migrant workers who were returning back to their homes in South Asia. Some of these migrant workers could be victims of human trafficking, or they could have information about other people who were previously trafficked or who are at a high risk of being trafficked.
Our staff is hoping to do this same type of food distribution again, but this time they plan to use it as an opportunity to educate migrant workers about human trafficking. If they get approval from local government bodies, they are planning to attach a flyer about human trafficking to the food packets they hand out.
Our team member said, "If we can do this, we'll be doing relief aid work plus raising awareness and collecting information about trafficking at the same time!"
It costs a little under $4 to feed a starving person for a month, $15 for a family. This is the actual amount we are giving people based on calculations about the minimum needed for basic necessities for those with absolutely nothing, using nationally appropriate food staples. There are more people out there than we are able to help, and for those who are desperate, the first bag of rice is more important than the second. Visit here to find out how you can get involved today. You can also click here for the latest update from our president and founder as he shares about the current crisis and our plan to serve those who need it most.
*All content, data, and statistics current at the date and time of publishing. Names are changed for security and privacy purposes.
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