Project Hennu COVID-19 Crisis India - We Need Your Support!

by Anna Spoore April 28, 2021

What is Project Hennu?

Project Hennu is one of the Artisan Partner Groups we work closely with at Uplift Fair Trade. Uplift and Project Hennu work together to bring such amazing products to Australian consumers and most importantly, empowering Project Hennu’s Artisans to make a living and support their families, through Fair Trade.

The new surge in Covid-19 infections in India has left our dear friends in need of help.

We have formed a GoFundMe to kindly ask our supporters to donate and become part of the initiative. Later on in the article, you'll find bank details to donate directorly into Project Hennu's bank account as an alternative to using the GoFundMe.

We strongly recommend you to donate directly using the bank details since it avoids any GoFundMe transaction fees and delays to get the donations straight to Project Hennu. Find the GoFundMe here.

Please watch the video below to see Anna's (Uplift Fair Trade's founder and director) response to the emergency, Project Hennu's situation and how you can help.

Unfortunately, Project Hennu has been majorly affected due to Covid-19 and desperately need our help from Australia and all around the world that are in a position to help contribute financially. Your contributions go directly to Project Hennu and will help Project Hennu get back on their feet as much as they can during this uncertain time. Project Hennu has been forced into lockdown and currently cannot operate as they usually do.

We encourage Uplift Fair Trade supporters and beyond to contribute and encourage their friends, family and others in their network around the globe to contribute too. Sharing our message on social channels like Facebook and Instagram really help spread the word!

Message from Pradeep (In India)

The message and below was written by Pradeep Krishnappa. Pradeep helps run, manage and coordinate Project Hennu over in India. Project Hennu is one of the Partner Groups we work close with at Uplift Fair Trade. Uplift and Project Hennu work together to bring such amazing products to Australian consumers while empowering Project Hennu Artisans to make a living and support their familes.

"Dear Friends,

I am writing to ask for your help on behalf of Project Hennu! (https://www.ethicattic.com/pages/project-hennu) As you all know this project was initiated in 2020 during the pandemic to support the under privileged women from urban slums of Bangalore. When we adopted this group we had started to believe that we can support these women to earn a good dignified living. Uplift Fair Trade, Australia has been a major contribution in this project shouldering it with constant orders for the women to earn their livelihood all along the project.

As the project took off well as planned we are facing a new challenge with this pandemic hitting hard as second wave with a new mutant. Four of our women has been infected by this new COVID 19 mutant and has forced us to shut down the production temporarily. This present mutant being deadly and spreading fast the Indian govt is failing in fulfilling or controlling the neither spread of this virus nor able to support with enough infrastructure for the people who are infected.

Hence our efforts of supporting the Project Hennu can’t take effect unless we have the support of everyone in our Fair Trade Community.

That’s where you come in!

I am reaching out to ask if you can donate any amount to help these women in their medical support or fund the project hennu to keep it sustain until the time women get back to work after their recovery from COVID19.

We have two scenarios where you can help...

A. Medical support to women who can’t afford private hospitalization and the medication expense to recover from the COVID19, due to lack of Govt Infrastructure.

B. Project Hennu, to keep the operation up and running till the women recover from their COVID19 until they get back to their routine for earning their livelihoods.

The average cost of hospital care for COVID-19 patients without insurance or who receive out-of-network care varies greatly by age – for patients between 21- and 40-years-old to $10,000 to $20,000 for patient between 41 and 60 years old to be $15,000 to $25,000 per patient according to updated cost analysis data from FAIR Health. The highest averaged allowed amount paid to the provider under an insurance plan was $40,208 for people over 60 and was lowest for patients 21 to 40 at $26,152. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tOh4DMhbOI )

Fortunately, our women are covered under Govt scheme that gets health benefits. But unfortunately the present situation is that Govt facility can’t hold all the diseased as the Govt Capacity is maxed out. Hence they are looking towards private support. Most of the women are not in critical phase and been allowed home medication. However, these home medication still need facility like home oxygen cylinders and medication with a doctor visits. So, people in this phase may not need financial support as much needed for hospitalization mentioned above.

Hence we are averaging it out for as $5000person x 4 = $20,000/- medical support

Project Hennu operational cost- irrespective of the women attend the work or production unit we feel it’s human and Fair to pay them their wages or monthly salary so that their family can be well taken care. Few of the women we work with are the main bread winner for the house and their children depend on their income. So we have put a wage calculation and production unit cost for it to be fully functional till the time they get back on their feet and back to work.

If you would like to know more about the situation in Bangalore, India and would like to get more updates on the same please feel to call me on +91 9845469420 or write to me on pradeepkrisnappa@gmail.com (You can also reach out directly to Uplift Fair Trade at anna@upliftfairtrade.com.au)

If you would like to contribute or send donation to my Australian account, please find details as below (most suitable for Australian Donors):

CommBank
Branch – Katoomba NSW
Account Name – Pradeep Krishnappa

BSB – 062559
Account no - 10434259

If you wish to contribute to our India account, Please find details as below:

Name on the account - FAIRKONNECT

Account Type - CURRENT ACCOUNT
Name of the bank – PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK

Address and phone number of the bank – 33/a 1st stage Indiranagar, Bangalore – 560038 Ph - 08025250113 Bank account Number – 1268002100016669
Bank swift code - PUNBINBBBKG

Bank Branch Code – 126800 IFSC code – PUNB 0126800

I hope to hear from you soon and thank you for your generosity in advance.

Sincerely Yours,

Pradeep Krishnappa
For Project Hennu
Director Fairkonnect. "

Why Project Hennu NEEDS and DESERVES Your Help!

We’ve been asking during Fashion Revolution week - “who made my clothes? "

As part of the understanding about the people behind a supply chain, we must consider our responsibility to help and support the people who make or bring us beautiful products, when they need it the most.

Radhika (left) and Munnilaxmi (right), holding "I made your clothes" signs as part of the Fashion Revolution week. Both these women are staff members at Project Hennu. Radhika has been tested positive for Covid-19, but fortunately has access to home medication.

One of the most uplifting stories during Covid for Uplift Fair Trade was being able to give work to a group of women in the urban slums of India (Project Hennu). After they lost their jobs due to lockdown. We designed with Fairkonnect in India, a wonderful range of clothing using discarded fabrics. We had just placed our winter order and planned our range for summer when Covid hit Bangalore, India.

We are heartbroken to have shut down the sewing project while the women either recover from Covid-19 or waiting to see if they also have been infected. Statistics show close to 45,000 new positive Covid-19 cases a day in India (and growing) . We have been able to get oxygen for one family, but this has been costly and difficult to do. We are concerned about their health, but also about basic needs while they can’t work.