These community organisations are helping international students with ready-to-eat meals and grocery kits

A large number of international students in Australia depend on odd jobs for their daily expenses, However, due to the COVID19 shutdown, they have been left high and dry without any income.

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Highlights

• International students can seek help from different organizations for cooked meals to groceries and rent help if they are in distress.
• International student support kits contain 5kg rice, 5kg atta (Wheat Flour), Daal (lentils) and masala (spices).

Melbourne-based Australia India Sports Council works with Indian International students to promote healthy living and participation in sporting activities across Australia.

When they sent an email inquiring about well being of their member students and university student associations they were shocked.

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Rishi Prabhakar, secretary of Australia India Sports Council (AISC) told SBS Hindi, "I came to Australia as an international student some twenty years back. I know how we used to live that time with money just enough to keep us afloat week by week."

"I want to assure all international students that Australia India Sports Council is working with multiple organisations in different states to formulate a sustainable model to support them."

"In the last two weeks, we and our partner organisations have received hundreds of calls and messages from distressed students and their parents in India said," Mr Prabhakar said.

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These community organisations are helping international students with ready-to-eat meals and grocery kits

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He says our target is to provide basic life support packet to as many as possible but we have limited resources.

"We would like to call upon the community to come forward in this unpredictable time."

AISC is not alone in its pursuit to help and support international students.

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Rajput and Kshatriya Association (RAMA) of Melbourne is also distributing international students' support kits.

Association's president Bapu Depender Gohil told SBS Hindi we have only one rule - anyone who requests for help first, will be supported.

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"On last Saturday we gave 70 packs of student support kit which contains 5kg rice, 5kg atta (Wheat Flour), Daal (lentils) and masala (spices)."

"For this week we have received requests for more than a hundred such kits but we only have 80 kits to distribute as yet," Mr Gohil says.

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He has appealed to international students to not hoard these goods. 

"We do not have any criteria for giving the support packets but If you are not in absolute need please don't call for help, as someone in dire need might go hungry because of someone's greed," he said.

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