Awamu

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COVID-19 Emergency: food for vulnerable children

Tonny and his younger brothers. The family survive on the little income his mum makes from washing other peoples clothes. She can no longer continue her business without risking the health of her family.

We need your help

We are already witnessing many children going hungry

Though the pandemic was slow to reach us in Africa, the World Health Organisation is now urging the continent to “prepare for the worst”.

We cannot predict the scale of what lay ahead - but with more than ten people sharing one small room, lack of access to water and no decent health care - we know that Corona will reach the poorest in our community and hit them the hardest.

Awamu help to supplement children’s food by including a school lunch in the support. But in response to the COVID-19 situation, the government have closed schools for one month. This means children do not have access to enough food.

This situation for the poorest families is being made worse by the closing of marketplaces (affecting both access to food and income from their own trading) and, as panic sets in, food prices continue to rise.

We are already witnessing many families going without meals and they won’t be able to ‘stock up’ in the event of a lock down. The situation puts families in even more danger as they’ll have to put themselves and their family at risk in order to find food.

We need to act now to help keep children safe

This is an urgent appeal for your help. We need your support to purchase and distribute urgent food supplies to the worst affected children and families.

£50 could provide food for a family for one month

£5 could provide food for one child for one month
(as part of a family supply of food)

Community response

As I write, our response to Covid-19 is being delivered by our team – all community volunteers. Inspiring, determined women who give all their time and energy to help vulnerable children and adults in our community.

You may remember from my last message that thanks to Awamu supporters like you, they have already started to arm children and families with soap and sanitizer. And we are working with local government Health Officers to make sure our community has the right information to be able to protect themselves.

They’re continuing to ensure children have access to their medication – helping to reduce childrens need to travel and potential exposure to the virus. Through this work they have identified the children and families who are already being hit by the situation.

We know that this is a worrying time. The weeks ahead are going to be challenging for every one so I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any support you can give at this time.

Stay strong

Florence