On 31st December 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made a media statement on their website about cases of ‘viral pneumonia’. Subsequently, on the 9th of January, the Chinese authorities determined that the outbreak was caused by novel coronavirus. By January 13th, the first case outside China was found in Thailand.

On January 30th, the first reported case of Covid-19 in India was found in Kerala, this number rose to 3 by February 3rd. The was no significant rise noted in February. On March 4, 22 new cases were noted and subsequently by mid March a significant rise was noted due to some cases regarded as ‘super spreaders,’ or infected people who attended large gatherings and then infected several more people. By this time, Covid-19 became a global pandemic and lockdown was imposed nationwide in India on March 21st.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was interviewed in April 2020 by Time Magazine. Among other things, he said, “We Buddhists believe that the entire world is interdependent. That is why I often speak about universal responsibility. The outbreak of this terrible coronavirus has shown that what happens to one person can soon affect every other being. But it also reminds us that a compassionate or constructive act—whether working in hospitals or just observing social distancing—has the potential to help many.”

“This crisis shows that we must all take responsibility where we can. We must combine the courage doctors and nurses are showing with empirical science to begin to turn this situation around and protect our future from more such threats.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama wished to make some contributions towards all the efforts that were being made at this time. To this end, the Dalai Lama Trust donated to and was engaged in three principal causes.

The first of these was the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES fund) that was set up on March 28th to provide relief to those affected. His Holiness the Dalai Lama donated Rs. 30,00,000 (rupees thirty lakhs) to this fund from the Dalai Lama Trust as a token of his sympathy and support to the Government’s efforts to control the growing threat of Covid-19. His office staff members also donated one day’s salary to the PM CARES fund.

The second principal donation was made for those worst affected- migrant workers, daily wage workers, slum communities, beggars, and any destitute people in need in the Dharamshala area. Normally this segment of people rely on daily work to keep afloat and therefore the lockdown was especially hard on them as they no longer had the means to survive.

During the 21 day lockdown from March 21st to April 14th, Tonglen Trust took the initiative to purchase and distribute rations to those in dire need and were able to benefit a large number of people in that period. Tonglen has tremendous experience in caring for the slum communities and their projects are recognised as a prime model in the sector. The lockdown was then extended by 19 more days, from April 15th to May 3rd, and Tonglen was unable to singlehandedly cover the expenses involved in purchasing large amounts of rations with their reserves. They contacted the Dalai Lama Trust for help at this point.

It was then decided that the Dalai Lama Trust would purchase and distribute rations in these areas in collaboration with Tonglen. In order to carry this out, the trust briefed local authorities including the SDM and Tehsildar on April 24th, 2020 and a visit was made on the same day to the locations of all the slum communities for inspection.

The following day, rations were purchased and transported to their locations for distribution. The rations included:

• 940 kg Wheat Flour (atta)
• 940 kg Rice
• 209 ltr Oil
• 209 packets of Haldi
• 209 kg Dal
• 209 kg Sugar
• 209 packets of Salt
• 209 packets of Tea, and
• 209 Soaps

With all members of the community present, the rations were handed over to their community leaders, who were aware of the needs of each family based on the verification and confirmation of their share of rations from previous distributions done by Tonglen and the local administration. This groundwork laid by Tonglen made it quite easy for the community leaders to distribute the rations fairly and accurately. On this occasion, we distributed rations for five day to a total of 230 families with 1,110 members.

On  the following day, April 26, 2020, the Dalai Lama Trust distributed rations to stranded migrant workers from Bihar and Chattisgarh. Here we were able to supply rations to 30 families with a total of 95 people. This distribution included:

• 120 kg Wheat Flour
• 175 kg Rice
• 30 kg Dal

On April 28, 2020, the Trust had purchased wholesale vegetables from the Kacheri Vegetable Market and distribute them to a total of 209 families with 1045 members residing in 9 different slum communities around Dharamsala as per their share. This consisted of:

• 800 kg Potatoes,
• 800 kg Onions, and
• 400 kg Tomatoes

On May 1 and 2, 2020, another purchase of rations was made and distributed to 243 families with 1,167 members from 10 slum communities and 76 families with 225 members of migrant workers. So a total of 319 families with 1,392 members received enough rations to last them six to seven days. The rations included:

• 1300 kg Rice
• 1300 kg Atta
• 300 kg Sugar
• 300 kg Pulses
• 300 lt Oil

A remainder of 200 kg Rice and 200 kg Atta were distributed to the weakest section of the slum communities on May 8th, 2020.

The third cause that the Dalai Lama Trust donated towards was regarding safety measures and related supplies. We purchased and donated these much needed supplies to the office of Kangra Superintendent of Police to facilitate them in their effort to protect the public. These supplies included:

• 200 PPE kits
• 200 sanitisers (50 ml)
• 5,000 face masks
• 300 gloves
  

The Dalai Lama Trust also donated 500 PPE kits to Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda for the healthcare workers so that they may continue to do their work in a safe environment and with the necessary precautions.

All of us at the Dalai Lama Trust would like to thank the many people who made this work possible. The various contributions in terms of money, time and effort are greatly appreciated. We keep in our prayers all the people who have lost much to this pandemic and stand in solidarity with everyone who is going through a hard time.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama concluded his interview by saying, “As a Buddhist, I believe in the principle of impermanence. Eventually, this virus will pass, as I have seen wars and other terrible threats pass in my lifetime, and we will have the opportunity to rebuild our global community as we have done many times before. I sincerely hope that everyone can stay safe and stay calm. At this time of uncertainty, it is important that we do not lose hope and confidence in the constructive efforts so many are making.”