In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries around the world have had their struggles and strategies to battle against this pandemic. The rural communities in Nepal have felt the impact of the lockdown the most, leaving the most vulnerable and marginalised communities surviving on minimal daily wages, with no work and struggling to feed their families.

Musahar Community (District Bara, Municipality– Jitpura Simara, VDC No 4) are the original Dalit community found in the eastern Gangetic plain and the Terai. Their name literally means ‘rat-eater’ due to their main former occupation of catching rats, and there are many who are still forced to do this work due to destitution and poverty. (excerpt from Wikipedia). Prior to COVID-19 this community survived and on a daily wage of approximately $2.50/day.

Food boxes containing rice, lentils, salt, oil and bars of soap were distributed to this community via local community leaders.