In the mid-1990s, villagers in Northeast India's South West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state were shocked when a number of children began to be born with debilitating deformities. Some children survived for only a few days, while others lived for 2 or 3 years. Around the same time many adults also began to be sickened by mysterious cancers, diseases that attacked suddenly and moved aggressively through the body. Gradually, community members began to blame these health impacts on some development projects in these areas, which had been started in the early 1990s. Since this time, local communities and concerned citizens had begun to notice a pattern in the health impacts and the increase of harmful ecological practices in our regions (including deforestation, pesticides, and other toxins released in the rivers). Together with local villages, we have demanded that a comprehensive epidemiological survey be conducted to learn if there is a pattern to the health problems, and if so, how widespread the pattern of disease and health impacts extends across the region. Covid-19 (hereafter C-19) and efforts to prevent its spread further endangers these particular villagers. That is, people at risk for C-19 due to respiratory or cardio-vascular disease cannot access basic health care due to travel restrictions. Health equity issues have been exacerbated: urgent treatment in Shillong is now out of reach due to high transportation costs and strict quarantines required after returning home. Since India imposed lockdowns to prevent C-19's spread in March, many have faced serious health complications.

In response to the Health (In)equity issue, we propose a two-pronged response: 1) We will collect individual surveys on these adverse health impacts to better understand how each family is impacted by the health issues. 2) We propose the strategy of Indigenous counter-mapping and creating "Hazard Maps" to help inform and protect the community. We will use Citizen Science to achieve these objectives: 1) to conduct public health studies 2) to monitor and evaluate which toxins are present in the ecosystem, marking these on an open access map; 3) to help educate the public about risk factors for C-19 through Public Awareness campaigns and distribute facial masks; and finally, 4) to organize Medical Camps to provide immediate treatment for chronic conditions or referrals to Shillong as possible. [Sep. 2020]