In an attempt to flatten the curve and reduce the number of deaths due to Covid-19, Tiny Steps Pre-School in Westville has embarked on a relief project to provide Covid-19 positive families and individuals with care packs free of charge that assist in their journey to recovery.
Naadia Sheik Hameed, the school principal at Tiny Steps said: “Daily, hospitals are flooded and are unable to help people. I took it to social media to ask for help as I had been taking from my own pocket. The effort was soon noticed by many people who have sponsored very generously. We have managed to reach out to 200 positive patients.”
They compile the packages and make the list of the patients who need it each day. In order for patients to receive this assistance, they are required to provide the team with their Covid-19 test. The Covid relief is extended to Westville, Sydenham, and Sherwood and they also are also silently helping in Chatsworth, Verulam and Phoenix.
“From the details that they have sent to us, we see what we have, we then deliver the package making no contact with the patient. We let them know that we are coming and we hoot before dropping the package at the gate. We deliver the packages twice or three times during their recovery. We do a second visit with a top up if required on herbal meds and a meal top up,” said Sheik Hameed.
The care packages include: Taib mixture with honey, immune booster, ginger tea shot, menthol crystals, ginger lozenges, and food essentials.
Sheik Hameed said they are not funded by the government as they are not a registered NGO, so the project is funded by the pre-school, registered NGOs and certain individuals. In her joint effort with Nazreen Isaac who came on board from the inception of the project, the team has also been joined by individuals who are volunteering their time. “Now we have selfless people like us who have joined our team with offering their time, knowledge and expertise free of charge as we grow this humanitarian aid,” she said.
Sheik Hameed said this project has been a learning curve, and they are grateful to have helped where they can. Their plan is to help the patients as long as Covid is still around. “We have come to the light that this Covid is not going anywhere soon so we have full intention to extend this help as long as Covid is around. All of this however depends on our sponsors, because our pockets can stretch to a certain point,” she said.
