Increasing community resilience in the face of COVID-19
To read our most recent update on our COVID-19 response, click here
Read below to learn about the projects related to COVID-19 that we are currently supporting.
Alternatively, you can mail a check to: PO Box 233, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
KENYA WASHBASINS
Worldwide, news reports talk to the overwhelming strain that the COVID-19 pandemic is putting on healthcare systems. Even the most well-equipped facilities in developed countries are buckling under the pressure. Africa Foundation works with 5 communities in rural Kenya, where many communities do not even have a direct water supply. Most clinics in these areas do not have beds or capacity to isolate infected patients, and they have a shortage of equipment and medical supplies. The situation is compounded by the fact that these clinics are serving communities in which poverty, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and diarrheal diseases are rife. In the communities supported by Africa Foundation, whole families live in small one or two room homes in households with scarce water supplies and no running water. With people advised to observe physical distancing and good hygiene habits amidst the pandemic, health experts have constantly reminded that the simple practice of handwashing with soap and clean water is also one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs and viruses.
In addition to helping prevent the spread of COVID, regular handwashing also:
- reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-40%
- reduces diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%
- reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%
- reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020)
PROJECT
Africa Foundation is aiming to raise funds to provide the following communities in Kenya with 50 liter wash basins to be placed at homesteads to promote handwashing:
Emurutoto Community = 145 Basins
Saparingo Community = 70 Basins
Enkereri Community = 80 Basins
Iltolish Community = 88 Basins
Maasai villages = 20 Basins
Total = 403 basins
Stickers outlining the steps to effective hand washing will also be placed on the side of each basin to ensure proper use and maximize the health benefits of this practice.
FUNDING
To buy 403 handwashing basins for 5 communities in Kenya will cost:
797,800 KES/ $7,598
RoE 105 KES: 1 USD
NAMIBIA – Maltahöhe Feeding Program
The Maltahöhe community is situated in the southern part of Namibia, about 300 kilometers south of Windhoek. The community has about 6 000 people, housed in two suburbs; the Andreville location, and Blikkiesdorp informal settlement, which are not serviced by any municipality. The town has been in decline for a number of decades, with extremely limited infrastructure and neither sewerage nor electricity supply. There are just two schools in the town, Daweb Secondary School and its feeder primary school. For a number of years, &BEYOND Sossusvlei Desert Lodge has made weekly visits to Maltahöhe and recognized malnutrition as a major issue in the community. Despite limited resources and infrastructure, the lodge staff established a feeding program, reaching around 500 hungry children living there. Meals are prepared and served in the kitchen and dining hall built by Africa Foundation in 2018. To date, this feeding program organized by the lodge has fed around 500 hungry children daily.
PROJECT
After the dramatic effects of the pandemic however, there has been a significant increase in the number of children attending in the hopes of receiving a daily hot meal, as lockdown and travel restrictions have had a huge impact on the livelihoods of those living in rural Namibia. Africa Foundation is raising funds to support this incredible initiative to reach those most in need of assistance as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
FUNDING
Africa Foundation aims to raise ZAR 10,000/ USD 690 per month for 6 months, or until guests return to lodges – as guest donations at andBeyond Sossusvlei Lodge have been the main fundraising platform for this initiative in the past.
Alternatively, you can mail a check to: PO Box 233, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
To read our most recent update on our COVID-19 response, click here
Make an online donation using Africa Foundation’s secure payment system.
Africa Foundation (USA) is a US public charity (EIN: 88-0461880), contributions to which may be tax deductible for US federal income tax purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code.
Africa Foundation (USA) is an independent non-profit organization. As such, all expenditures made by the organization are subject to the approval by the Board of Trustees, taking the donor’s preferences into account.
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