Effects of the Corona crisis on the help alliance

The help alliance and its projects have to struggle with serious consequences / Support and solidarity with the beneficiaries are therefore now more important than ever

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are currently evident worldwide. Numerous countries are in a state of emergency and everywhere people are forced to comply with unprecedented restrictions and regulations. Also in Germany contact bans, school closures or short-time work force us to changes in private and business life. As an aid organisation with social projects all over the world, the consequences are already visible for us:

• We do everything in our power to continue supporting the great commitment of our employees. Thus, despite the negative impact on our donation income, we are still able to financially support the work of 40 projects this year. For some projects, the funding sums have been reduced and/or postponed to a later date.
• Unfortunately, the second project cycle for 2020 has to be suspended and from 2021 there will be only one project cycle per year (submission deadline probably 31 July).
• We, the help alliance team, have already been working from home for one week, but we are still available for you at any time by phone or email.

The commitment of the help alliance and all its participants lives from working together: closer to the world. Closer to its people. It is about working together as equals and coming together to help disadvantaged people. In times of the dramatic spread of the corona virus, however, it is precisely this interaction that means an increased health risk for everyone and is no longer possible at all in many places. Even if our project managers do not currently have the opportunity to be on site in the projects, they are in close contact with the responsible persons of the partner organisations and try to support the beneficiaries in the best possible way together with us.

We would like to give you some concrete insights into the current situation of various help alliance projects:

Projekts in the area of education:

• All projects in Germany have been suspended until further notice. Project activities can no longer take place, including elementary and very important activities such as the learning cascades of Chancenwerk in Düsseldorf or learning German in Flörsheim. Even before the Corona crisis, these children were disadvantaged and urgently needed additional support. With the current school closures and project interruptions, their learning deficits are even greater and their future more uncertain.
• The situation is similar in developing countries. The educational structures built up with the help of the help alliance are extremely endangered, e.g. the iThemba schools in South Africa, the gender-friendly schools in Vietnam or the school project together with the “Patenschaftskreis Indien” are closed until further notice.
• International educational projects that were set up outside of a school context have to be interrupted at the moment and can no longer offer care and tutoring for the children, e.g. the Youth Centre in Brazil and the Sunshine Project in India.

Projekts in the area of work and income:

• Farming for Health in Nepal: All activities have been suspended until further notice, which means great losses for the local farmers.
• All German projects in the area of work and income were also interrupted, e.g. the mentoring programmes of Über den Tellerrand in Frankfurt or hanseatic help in Hamburg. This means that many beneficiaries no longer receive support and access to the labour market is made even more difficult for them. This threatens to aggravate the situation of disadvantaged people in Germany.
• Home quarantines make it impossible for many parents to continue their work. Not only the parents suffer from the lack of income, but of course also the children, because e.g. food can no longer be bought. Some projects have already started to distribute aid packages to these families, such as the Sunshine Project in India.
• Young adults who have already found employment in help alliance projects thanks to a completed training, e.g. former beneficiaries of the Safe House in South Africa as assistant teachers, currently do not have the opportunity to work in their profession anymore. The loss of the mostly low wages threatens their livelihood and that of their families, as they have no reserves to survive this time.

We would be pleased if you too would show your solidarity with the projects in these difficult times and continue to help the beneficiaries with your donation. There are various ways to support help alliance.