COVID-19 Response for Anchilo

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Peace Corps Volunteers around the globe were evacuated from their posts. I served as a Health volunteer for a small health center in the village of Anchilo in the northern part of Mozambique in Southern Africa. My primary job, among other things, was to distribute health information throughout my village and also work on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention in the community, as they are two of the most prevalent diseases in the district. Now, Anchilo faces an even greater threat with coronavirus, as their health infrastructure would not be able to withstand the effects of the pandemic. Although I am no longer able to physically help in the crisis due to the evacuation, my hospital colleagues and I are still in contact and would like to start a COVID-19 Response Project within Anchilo. We would like to start a mask distribution campaign as well as set up handwashing stations and distribute soap throughout the village while continuing to provide information on prevention methods of COVID-19. 

Anchilo is a small administrative post in a large district will likely not be receiving as many government resources as other larger localities.  The money collected from this campaign will be used by my hospital counterparts to make and distribute the materials needed for the homemade masks, handwashing stations and soap distributions. 

We will be buying "capulanas", or local fabrics, to make the face masks and paying "modistas", local tailors, to sow them. We will then be distributing them throughout the community, with an emphasis on those who have compromised immune systems, since they are most at risk for contracting coronavirus. We will also be setting up handwashing stations for preventative measures. Water is a scare resource in Mozambique and specifically in Anchilo and many people do not have access to clean water. We would need funds to obtain water from the local "torneira", or water pump, and refill the handwashing stations throughout the day. The donations from this campaign will also be used to purchase soap for the handwashing stations and the distributions.  We would like to do all this while continuing to provide "palestras", or health talks, to the public on how to prevent COVID-19 and what actions to take if a person is showing symptoms. 

We would like to start this project as soon as possible to try prevent the virus from affecting the community as much as we can. Any and all contributions would be an immense help.