Oaxaca Update July 21
Hello friends of Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots:
Sadly the situation in Oaxaca is not improving yet. There are about twice as many cases of Covid-19 in Oaxaca state as in my last report. The current number is 8,374 known cases and 790 deaths. The hospitals continue to be overwhelmed and the economy nearly at a standstill.
Mexico uses a green to red scale to measure the seriousness of the Covid outbreak. Recently Oaxaca City was on Orange Condition and we were able to have limited operations at the center. During this time we continued to focus on relief for our children and their families and were distributing about 200 dispensas (food and supply packages) per week from the center. In addition we have been assisting our families in meeting the most basic needs such as utilities and medicine.
Unfortunately Oaxaca State is moving back to Red Condition and the governor has asked everyone to stay home voluntarily for ten days to slow the spread of Covid and we will need to temporarily close again. During this time our staff will work from home and will maintain availability to our families in emergencies.
The State government is currently planning to open schools in September, but that may change. Toward that end we were working on a system to get uniforms and school supplies to our children and young adults as we have not been able to distribute them as usual. We are planning an appointment system that will be implemented when we open back up so we can get our students ready for school safely, limiting the number of people in the center at a given time.
The food scarcity our families face continues to be foremost in our minds. When we were open in the Orange phase we were able to increase the size of the dispensas. Once our doors open again, our hope is to continue to expand services as needed to our families.
The current situation is uncharted territory and we continue to worry about our families, and know that you do too. We sincerely appreciate your support and ask that it continue as we face this crisis. Once the pandemic begins to resolve it is going to be a long road back for our children and families and your support is both appreciated and critical. Thank you so much!
Dave Slaymaker, President OSCGR
