Category: Emergency Relief
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Thank you for all your support through 2020
It has been an especially difficult year for India’s most vulnerable communities. But with the support of our wonderful donors and with Tiljala SHED’s hard work, we have been able to provide huge amounts of food relief, educational support and disaster relief. Read on… Lockdown When India locked down on 25th March, no one was…
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Disaster has Struck. Again
I don’t really know how to report this. Disaster has struck. Again. I have, for better or worse, tied myself to the fate of a handful of destitute communities in central Kolkata. For five years I have been raising funds to support a little grassroots NGO (Tiljala SHED) working to help the members of…
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We need a new vehicle
DONATE NOW Tiljala SHED’s faithful workhorse – a grey Maruti Suzuki Eeco – is almost beyond use. We desperately need to find a replacement. Bought in 2008 this 7 seater van has been essential to all of Tiljala SHED’s activities. But right now it is absolutely central: since India’s lockdown began, this vehicle has enabled…
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Distributing Emergency Rations During COVID19
It is Ramadan, the temperature is in the 30s and this little team has distributed emergency food parcels to 1650 families (almost 10,000 people) over the last month. The transportation, storage, packaging, and distribution were all handled by this small group under the most challenging circumstances. Supplies and funds were made available by generous donors.…
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Delivering Food Parcels in Topsia
On a mission to deliver emergency food rations to one very needy family and two very vulnerable elderly women.This was a difficult day. First we went to Maya’s home – a shelter down a dark alley between the busy road and the sewage canal. Maya has no toilet facilities, no running water and no means…
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Rehana: from success to despair to renewed hope
Back in Kolkata at last!Yesterday I went to visit some of our beneficiaries – redoubtable women from the Topsia Squatter camp who are making a success out of lives lived perched over a sewage canal. Rehana at home in her better days. Rehana is one of our star performers: with a tiny loan of about…
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My Experience of Kolkata’s Rag Picker Communities and Tiljala SHED’s Amazing Work there
I visit Kolkata and Tiljala SHED two or three times a year. I love to catch up with old friends and spend time exploring my favourite city. But most of all I love to be part of the great work Tiljala SHED is doing amongst the city’s most vulnerable communities. Those who live in the canal-side…