by Cindy del Rosario-Tapan, former Director of Communications

Have you heard about the world’s deadliest outbreak of COVID-19 right now?

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve had the opportunity to be vaccinated. Life as you once knew it may be making a comeback. Perhaps you’ve reconnected with your beloved community, and some sense of normalcy is around the corner.  But there is a different reality for our partners in the Global South, where COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise. We have told you about what’s happening in Asia and the Pacific, and why vaccine distribution is just the latest example of global inequity.  Now we want you to know what’s happening In Latin America, where we are experiencing a genocide of impoverished communities. 

• With an official death toll of 180,000, Peru now has the world’s highest COVID-19 death rate per capita. Leaders of our partner organization FENMUCARINAP have lost their entire family nucleus. Criminal groups have re-organized themselves to traffic medical oxygen, threatening community centers and businesses where this resource is offered free of charge or at low cost. 
• The Women’s Commission of Central America has reported the deaths of many leaders, some of whom died with their husbands—leaving orphan newborn children who must enter the adoption system because there is no one in the family that can care for them. 
• In Brazil and Guatemala, the COVID19 crisis has made defenders of land and territories more vulnerable. Extractive industries and land traffickers have attacked the headquarters of our partners, Bufete de Abogados de Guatemala/The Guatemalan Law Firm and the Associação das Mulheres Munduruku Wakoborun, without accountability.

This pandemic is not yet over. From Peru to India to South Africa, people are in dire need of support right now. That’s why Thousand Currents created the People for People Fund,  which will provide emergency relief AND bring continuous support to our grassroots partners.  While many of us start to see the light, we have to make sure it’s bright enough for everyone.  Please consider a meaningful donation today.