By Jane Kaye-Bailey | Founder
Though COVID-19 is still circulating the globe, Zambia's cases have continued to decline. In February 2022 there were over 4,000 cases daily, whereas in December this year the average daily cases have dropped to 64.
When the coronavirus pandemic reached Zambia, clnics in the rural areas were poorly equipped to cope with the spread of the virus. They had no disinfectant, hand sanitising gel or masks. Medical staff were totally unprotected. One medical officer stated 'had it not been for the support from The Butterfly Tree we would have lost many of our medical staff.'
The Butterfly Tree was able to offer to support to some 30 rural health centres and health posts as well as the town of Kazungula where we provided PPE at the borde control post to Botswana. In addition, we provided hand washing facilties, hand sanitising gel and disinfectant to 30 rural schools.
Our volunteers started making masks from local material to give to school children. In the peak of the pandemic pupils were told not to attend school if they did not have a mask. Poverty levels are extreme, especially for orphans, therefore the free masks were invaluable and enabled them to go to school.
Support was given to our team of volunteers as they were unable to earn a living due to the restrictions. Zambia's tourism industry came to a standstill. Villages and communities close to Livignstone and the Victoria Falls heavily depend on tourism as a source of income. Three of the women's projects we iniated were also given help and a new one was developed in early 2022 to provide a sustainable income-generating activity for 200 women in Sekute.
It is hoped that tourism will continue to increase as Zambia has an abundance of wildlife and the magnificent Victoria Falls, a World Heritage site. Local communities are involved in guiding, cultural tours, and the making of wood carvings and other curios.
Thank you for everyone who gave donations to help provide PPE and support to the clinics, schools and vulnerable people.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
