TONGS CHARITY FOUNDATION

Covid has been hard on everyone globally. However, it has been especially hard on the rural and poor population in China. The rural part of Guizhou has made a deep impression on Tongs Charity because we had the front row seat in witnessing the poverty condition of a number of backward villages. Majority of people there are rural farmers and migrant workers.

 

Under the shadow of the pandemic, many families who rely on migrant workers’ income have suffered greatly due to the drop in income because of lost wages during the lockdowns. Rural migrants working in small and medium enterprises were affected the most. Many households that were poor prior to the pandemic became more impoverished.

 

"Only 20% of villagers received any form of local government aid, and only 11% of villages received financial subsidies." (https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-020-01369-z)

 

With China having a very strict zero-Covid policy, it has closed its borders to foreigners and visitors. Tongs Charity has to rely on others such as Red Cross to distribute winter jackers to the poor and elderlies.  They had to drive long distances to reach the many isolated villages. We are grateful for their assistance.