COVID India: Help Chhaya and HT

Dear Friends,

As you may know, India is in the middle of a CoVID-19 crisis, unlike anything it has experienced over the past year during this global coronavirus pandemic.  As a country, its people are staggering and the health care institutions have all but collapsed. 


As children, we are anxious about the health of our parents who are living in the midst of this crisis, but trust that God is in control. We had hoped to have my parents come and visit us this summer and it is unclear whether that will be possible, but we remain hopeful.


From our conversations with Mom and Dad, it is clear that their primary concern is for the women that they employ at Chhaya Cafe and Himalayan Tapestries. 


Most of you know that my Mom started these two businesses (Chhaya and HT) more than 20 years ago to serve underprivileged women (often the breadwinners in their families). Both the businesses, Chhaya and HT have (from their inception) paid the staff from the income generated through their labors each month. There are 21 women who are employed full-time by these two businesses. During the initial lockdown of 2020, both businesses closed for almost two months but were able to pay staff from the businesses' savings. Following this period, both reopened and everyone has since remained safe and employed. 


The most recent outbreak in India has been different. Chayya and HT have had to close, not from a sudden government mandate (as in 2020), but from the terrifying speed at which this CoVID-19 variant is impacting everyone. Mom has made the difficult decision to keep the businesses closed until the coronavirus situation in India has stabilized. The women are all (rightfully) concerned about their livelihood in a time where they cannot come to work and the outlook for business picking up during the next few months appears grim.


That brings me to the point of this note, as a family we would like to fundraise to help pay for the wages for these women for the next few months so that they can remain home and safe and still able to feed their families. Our goal is to raise $10K. It is important to us that you know that every cent raised in this effort will be used to pay the salaries of the women employed by these two businesses during this time. 


We know that many around the world have been hurting in so many ways because of this global pandemic. Many of us have been blessed to keep our jobs and remain safe by the mercies of God. If you are able to contribute to this cause we and the women employed by these two businesses would be tremendously grateful. 


on behalf of the Ebenezer family,

Deepak