Hooray! We are out of lockdown. We would like three beers and five white wines, please!

Hi, my name is Hanna, 21, and I live together with 8 other girls in a student house in Leiden where I study law, with a passion for women and children’s rights. I use this interest in my daily work at Miss-Collect.

Finally, we can enjoy our health and freedom and spent some of our money on food and drinks at the local terrace around the corner.
 
At least, this would be the plan if we were not aware that in India, many people are dying and that due to the lockdown, female waste-pickers cannot go to work. Instead, they sent their children to work for some income who are at risk of getting infected. The story of one young girl, age 16, had an enormous impact on me. She was forced to marry an older man in order for the parents to have food on the table. Only the thought gives me goosebumps.
 
Suddenly we are no longer thirsty. As students, we want to send a message to the rest of the world that we do not solely care about partying and drinking and feel concerned about other children who do not have the privilege to study law like ourselves.
 
Therefore, our first round of drinks (€ 45,00 in total), is the start of our contribution to what we hope will be a worldwide student movement that supports female dayworkers and their children to survive the Covid lockdown in India. We ask all our fellow students (and parents) wherever they are to do the same. #Drink and think!
 
Our goal is to collect €5000, but we don’t mind if our message goes viral and the amount collected goes through the roof because of your contribution. The organisation for which I work, Miss-Collect, will ensure that the total amount goes directly to India’s day workers and children. For more information, check www.MissCollect.org. Go out to the terrace, donate 5 euros and nominate at least 3 others to do the same! Cheers!
 
By the way; in India, € 45,00 can buy a family a “Sanitation Kit” (includes 4 bars of soap, 2 hand sanitisers, 2 pairs of hand gloves and 2 reusable masks) and four times an “Education Kit” (including a data plan for cellphones so that children can follow online education from their homes). 

Give female waste-pickers the tools to survive COVID

Provide women and their families with sanitation, education and urgent needs kits to stay safe during lockdown. 

Hanna