Grassroots Covid Relief in Rural Nepal

While we in Canada are receiving vaccines and looking forward to reopening in the summer, the people of Nepal are seeing such a possibility fading away. 

Like the rest of South Asia, Nepal has been hit very hard by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal has the world’s highest positivity rate at present, with one in two people testing positive.  The country’s health system is overwhelmed. Very few Nepalis have been vaccinated. Those in need of hospital care are struggling to find care. Testing and tracing remain a challenge. People are pleading for vaccines, oxygen, hospital beds, medicine, and test kits. 

With lockdown, families are also struggling to cope financially as employment dries up. Even food is in short supply. Scientists around the world agree that ending the pandemic requires global action. It is not an option for us in Canada to ignore what’s going on across the world. 

ASHA Canada wants to raise $20,000 by June 5 to support the following grassroots organizations on the frontlines of Covid relief work in rural Nepal. 

Hamro Abhiyan Nepal, Feed the Hungry, Bhore Nepa and Sano Paila l are providing hot meals to people who are out of work due to the pandemic. They will be spending funds on lentils, rice, and vegetables to create hearty, healthy meals for people. 

Oda Foundation is a medical organization in the hilly Kalikot region of Nepal, a very rural part of the country. They are co-managing a community hospital in the Mahawai Rural Municipality. The funds that they receive from us will be spent on antigen testing kits, care packages for pregnant and breastfeeding people, and medicines for people who are isolating in their isolation centre. In addition, funds will support an expansion of the number of beds available at their isolation centre. 

Basobas is a federated network of landless, squatter and 'unmanaged' communities of Nepal, with grassroots-based membership.It is a collective of the urban poor representing a majority of daily wage labourers working in the 'informal sector'. Basobas is providing food to the urban poor and precariously employed. 


$15 feeds five children for a day. $75 feeds a family for a month. $150 buys 100 antigen test kits 

The pandemic won’t end here until it ends everywhere. Please donate today.  Thank you and namaste! 

Note: if you'd like a tax receipt, instead of donating above, please contact Niti by emailing [email redacted] dot com

How we will get the funds to the organizations:

One of our community members who lives in Vancouver BC, Sambriddhi Nepal, will be sending the money via their bank account to a community member in Nepal. This community member will then provide the money to the above organizations. This method is the one that will result in the least banking fees. The member in Canada will cover the money transfer costs in Canada. 

About us: 

ASHA Canada is a community of Nepalis in Canada and Canadians with a deep attachment to Nepal. Founded in response to the deadly 2015 earthquake, ASHA Canada is now focusing on advocacy for Covid relief, and on raising funds for frontline workers in Nepal. 

ASHA Canada acknowledges that we live on Indigenous lands. As we focus on the impact of this pandemic on developing nations around the world, we also bear in mind the impact of colonization on the Indigenous communities of Turtle Island. We are grateful to the stewards of these lands, and stand in solidarity with Indigeneous communities to fight the systemic inequities perpetuated by colonialism nationally and globally.

Photo credit: Mani Lama. Design credit: Iman Baobeid