How we are responding to COVID-19
There isn’t a single place on this plane that isn’t feeling the sting of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Uganda’s President, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, addressed the nation on the 18th March, laying out the country’s response to Coronavirus and then initiated more stringent measures on the 30th March, as cases of those infected in the country rise to 33. These measures in Uganda include:
All schools and all education institutions are closed and will remain so for a couple more weeks.
No vehicle, public or private, is allowed to move on the roads except those transporting goods and those offering essential services like medical care.
All shopping malls in the city center are closed.
We highlight those three because they have the potential to deal the biggest blow to the families we work with because a number of the parents we support are directly or indirectly employed by the schools, the transport sector or the shopping malls in town.
It is important to restrict the spread of Coronavirus in Uganda further, as it is likely to spread quickly, particularly amongst those living in urban, congested slums, where as we know, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions will be most at risk.
We continue to monitor the situation daily and are in touch with the 75 families we work with directly to provide the necessary support to them over the coming months as their income drops.
Previous to the tighter restrictions enforced by Museveni, we were able to safely distribute food & hygiene packages to those we work with specifically. We were also able to print and distribute 1,000 leaflets to residents of Katanga, on the ‘8 steps to take to prevent the spread of Coronavirus’.
As we can no longer provide physical support to those in Katanga, we will be in contact by phone and will transfer money via mobile money platforms to each family. (Many in Uganda do not have bank accounts, because of the monthly charges, but for decades have instead had access to store and transfer money on their basic mobile phones, even before internet banking came to the western world.) Thankfully, as a contribution to the fight against COVID-19, telecom companies have waivered off any charges on electronic transfer of money via their mobile money platforms. This enables us to send financial assistance to the parents without any additional transfer charges.
We have received a number of generous donations already, which has enabled us to provide the initial food & hygiene packages and the leaflets designed to prevent the spread of he virus. We are aware that this will have long term impact in Uganda and we need your support to provide on-going support to those we work with in Katanga. Please donate today to support a family through this difficult time.
Thank you!