As we’ve all seen on the news this past month, the COVID-19 crisis in India is extremely dire.

“People there are dying en route to hospitals that are too full to take them anyway. Burial grounds and crematoriums can’t keep up  with demand and bodies are piling up.”

246,146 people in India have currently lost their life due to COVID-19 and this number increases every day. 

It is time that we take action to help change this.



In the summer of 2019, 17 Cornell students lived in southwestern India and worked for the grassroots non-profit organization Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement  (SVYM) through the Global Health and Industrial and Labor Relations program at Cornell University. While at SVYM, students worked on various projects from socio-economic empowerment initiatives for marginalized Indian women to building chronic disease management initiatives at SVYM's rural hospital. Most importantly, students made relationships with SVYM’s people and the communities they served that would last a lifetime. 

Additionally, since the India Global Service Learning program in 2019, Cornell students Katrina and Alena have extended their involvement with SVYM to include opening up and running a US Sales Hub for Totally Tribal products, a small handmade clothing business created and run by indigenous (tribal) women that allows them to not only support their families but feel empowered knowing that they are making money doing something they love. Currently, 50% of all profits earned via the sale of Totally Tribal products will contribute to this fundraiser. 

We believe that it is time to honor our relationship with SVYM by giving back during their current COVID-19 crisis. 



Right now, SVYM’s rural-serving Vivekananda Memorial Hospital in Saragur is in dire need of funds and supplies. COVID-19 patients are dying every day there, and the hospital staff and managers have been working around the clock to provide patients with the care they need to survive. Hospital beds are running out and they are beginning to turn patients away. COVID-19 has rampantly spread to vulnerable rural indigenous populations. SVYM has been dipping into all of their funds to help pay for patients who are unable to afford care. 



All of the funds raised through this fundraiser will go toward the following causes at Vivekananda Memorial Hospital :

1. Help pay for patients who cannot afford treatment 
2. Provide food for patients and healthcare workers at the hospital
3. Compensate healthcare workers adequately for their hard work and extra-long hours 
4. Purchase essential oxygen concentrators needed to keep patients alive, as well as any other necessary medical supply purchases
5. Contribute to the functioning of emergency medical and mobile health vehicles needed to support patients in hard to reach rural areas

Please join us today to make a donation that will save lives, keep families whole and contribute to a step forward on the global battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, time is crucial and any donations, big or small, will undoubtedly help to save precious lives in rural Karnataka. With our close relationship with SVYM and the Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, our funds will go directly in a safe, and timely manner to the hospitals. We will be transparent about this process as well as how the funds are being used through regular updates.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for trusting us and for your generous support!


Pictured above: Vivekananda Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Saragur. Pictured below: Healthcare workers at VMH.