India is in the grip of a particularly deadly coronavirus wave. The healthcare system has crashed and people are desperate for medical care, especially life-enabling oxygen. Media coverage has made it clear this is a multifaceted, systemic crisis: social/humanitarian, economic and political.  I've seen references in media, like "The Guardian," to "crimes against humanity!"  I'm in daily contact with  friends in India who are still OK, thank god, but are living in barely-suppressed fear.  Their safety net is in tatters.  

I was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in India, (1964-1966).  There were almost 60 (then-)young volunteers in our group, India VIII.  We know  what it's like in India when social and economic equilibrium is lost and chaos reigns, whether natural disasters, like droughts, complex events, like famines or political violence.  We all want to help when we see this unfolding, unravelling, but how and will it make a wit of difference?  

Well, this Covid19 pandemic is unique: It's punishing the blameless and the innocent poor. In my opinion, the point has been reached where we can and should step in and do what we can - anything we can.  Now, In India there are a million George Floyd's struggling for breath, but poverty and even social status is chocking them.  

I can do something.  We can do something.  I can help fund relief. I still have money from my stimulus check!  I set up this page under the OXFAM umbrella hoping Peace Corps volunteers of India VIII, whose septuagenarians and octogenarians are still in touch after 57 years, will respond to this plea with donations and, likewise, their wonderful friends, partners and colleagues!  

OXFAM is working with the government to distribute PPE to health workers and to fund oxygen cylinders and other equipment for hospitals.They are also providing food, hygiene kits and handwashing stuff to the poorest communities. They are making direct cash transfers to vulnerable households. WHY OXFAM? Oxfam has been working with the poorest communities in India for 70 years. SEE THE LATEST UPDATES: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/IndiaCovid-19AppealMORE INFO: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/current-emergencies/oxfam-covid-19-response-in-india/