Corona has hit hard all over the world. We are living a reality that few of us would have ever imagined, with lock down and social distancing.
In Colombia the lock down has hit hard. There is a huge informal work sector, meaning people work from day to day with whatever comes around. It might be selling products in the streets, food etc. Since nobody is allowed out, all these people lost their income from one day to another and how are you going to pay rent and get food on the table without an income? Many Colombians have been struggling and sadly the State has not been efficient with help to vulnerable populations.
Two rounds of groceries
Together with other local organizations in Cali and Popayán we organized a hand-out of grocery bags to especially vulnerable populations.
In the first round of hand outs, Lila Mujer who work with HIV positive women in Cali received 14 bags, some of which you can see above. Most of the women that Lila Mujer work with don't show their faces because of the stigma and discrimination of HIV positive people in Colombia, which is also why their faces are cut out of the pictures.
TranSER who work with Trans women who mainly work as sex workers in Cali teaching about safe sex behaviours and how to live a healthy sexuality. The program received 8 bags for their program participants.
In Popayán the solidary fund, organized by Colectivo Viraje, Furia Marica and Corporación Culturas Diversas, also received some donations from another organization, so the 23 grocery bag donations were combined with the others and they could hand out 28 bigger bags that leaves the beneficiaries with food for a little longer than first anticipated. Yay!
In the second round we handed out to Lila Mujer, who this time managed to hand out to their connected women in Buenaventura, which is an area with need of a lot of support, and to TranSer in Cali.
Thanks to everyone who supported and made this possible!
Current situation
We are still under lock down until 25 of May, which might be prolonged further, nobody knows. Some sectors, like construction and textile, have permission to start working, but under strict sanitary protocols. Everyone else is still to stay home, and only go out for groceries certain days of the week (generally once or twice) and otherwise depending on the city, you can go for a walk in a radius close to your residence, in Cali from 6-7 am only.