#HopeBeyondCovid19 for families in Zimbabwe

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc across the globe but against a backdrop of hyper-inflation, a fragile healthcare system, water shortages and unemployment over 90%, it has the potential to be completely devastating for our families.

On 30th April, Zimbabwe went into 'indefinite lockdown'. All citizens are required to stay at home except to buy essential food and medication. This is impossible for the millions who rely on informal jobs to put food on the table each evening. The very real dilemma for them is: feed my family and risk catching the virus or don't feed my family and risk dying of hunger. 

Sadly, it's as simple and as harsh as that.

Zimkids is responding, in the following ways, to make sure that no family goes hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic and that they have the chance to thrive beyond it.

PPE has become very expensive in Zimbabwe. However, without regular check ins and deliveries from our staff, families will not get the supplies they urgently need. Mobile is the only way of keeping in touch with our families and without the availability of mobile contracts, airtime (or credit) needs to be purchased regularly.

£250 enables us to provide PPE and airtime for all of our frontline staff for one month.

Food packs including one month's essentials (maize meal, soya chunks, rice, cooking oil, beans, salt, flour, matches, dried fish and peanut butter)  are being distributed to each family in need. 

For our most vulnerable, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions we are supplying them with Epap – a nutritious porridge full with vitamins and minerals to boost their immune systems.

Each pack costs £40 and will feed a family for one month. 

£10 ensures a person with underlying health conditions receives a month’s supply of Epap.

Medical kits are being purchased for each of our mentors in the communities. In addition, we are purchasing multivitamins and moringa powder, a nutritional supplement to help with immunity, for all.

We are providing each family with cleaning supplies to ensure optimum hygiene levels are met in this time.  

It is inevitable that some of our families will contract the virus. We are stocking up on enough paracetamol and cough syrup for each family to have a supply. We are also setting up a contingency fund for any hospital visit costs that occur. 

£480 buys a fully stocked medical kit for the whole community.

£25 buys cleaning supplies for a family.

£100 covers hospital costs families otherwise couldn’t pay.

The families we work with are unable to afford nutritious food unless they grow them themselves. We will distribute compost and seeds to grow these extra precious vegetables. 

One of the income generating projects we run is training Grandmothers to keep chickens and selling the eggs. The income and luxury of having nutritious eggs for their families has been life-changing. We want to ensure that we support these grandmothers to continue to care for their chickens.

£100 pays for seeds, compost and chicken feed for 4 families. 

Education is essential for breaking cycles of poverty, and yet the children we support would not be able to afford to go to school without our intervention. It is important that they do not fall behind while schools are closed. Our Lead teacher has been working hard to produce learning materials the children can work on at home and we want to print and distribute these for the duration lockdown measures are in place.

£30 pays for a home study pack for two children.

Persistent drought has reduced the water availability in Zimbabwe to critical levels. Electricity is often rationed and our staff have to operate without it for many hours a day and yet still pay the electricity bills. At the Zimkids base the water pump, grinding machine for peanut butter production and farming projects all rely on electricity. Purchasing a solar generator will not only reduce the cost of our operations, it will enable us to work (and have access to water) during the hours when there is no electricity. Above all, this will enable us to be available to help our families whenever they need us.

£5000 will buy a solar generator large enough to supply our base, access water and keep running our self-sufficiency projects.

Zimkids usually runs fundraising events which bring in significant amounts of money across the year. This year they have been cancelled due to COVID-19 in the UK and we will not be able to recover this lost income. 

So, THANK YOU for supporting this Crowdfunder and enabling us to provide essential care for families in desperate need and bringing #HopeBeyondCovid19 to families in Zimbabwe.