JUNE NEWSLETTER: GERALDINE SHARES HOW OUR COMMUNITIES ARE STRONGER THAN COVID
Geraldine Kauma Communications Officer Brick by Brick Uganda
Greetings from Uganda,
Three months ago the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Uganda. Our government, through the Ministry of Health, took aggressive action. Within 48 hours, all schools in the country were closed, religious services were banned, all markets except those selling food were closed and public and private transportation was halted. We have been living with a 6PM curfew to limit the spread of this deadly virus. Since March 22nd, COVID cases have risen to 755.
All Ugandans have worked together to limit the spread of the pandemic. We know that our critical care capacity is very limited as compared to wealthier countries. Thankfully, our collective efforts have paid off as there have been no deaths reported to date.
As I write this, all schools in Uganda remain closed, which has put a hold on implementation of most of our School Program activities. We continue to work through the challenges faced as a result of the ban on all meetings, as well as transportation. Since our districts of Rakai and Kyotera border Tanzania, we are especially susceptible to new infections due to the presence of truck drivers constantly crossing the border. The shutdown has greatly limited our ability to train and mentor health providers, which is a key component of our Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) Program. Additionally, we have been forced to delay the launch of our Mama Rescue Project, which links mothers in labor to local motorcycle and automobile taxi drivers, through our innovative mobile phone app. Next month, we hope to begin to implement this lifesaving initiative.
In the face of all of these challenges, our work to improve the health of women and their families continues. We have been supported by our political and district leaders, allowing our cars to continue to operate and ferry much needed medical supplies, as well as program staff, who continue to carry out supervision of community health activities. Our My Pads Program supports adolescent clinics in Kyalulangira, empowering community health ambassadors and providers with increased knowledge on how to support the health of adolescent girls and boys, especially as the lockdown has increased the risk of sexual and gender-based violence in our communities.
Given the inability to run our peer support groups for adolescent mothers, our Mama Ambassador Program, supported by Grand Challenges Canada, has continued to reach out to young mothers and monitor their babies through individual home visits. We are also providing nutritional support to the babies as the shutdown has also brought financial hardship to our most vulnerable communities. Last month, we celebrated our first ever Music For Mothers Online Fundraiser and were overwhelmed by your generous support. We raised over $53,000 that will go to continuing the work of supporting mothers and babies in our communities.
Please check out this inspiring video of Dr. Eleanor Nakintu at work in the field, as she shares about our efforts to support mothers and babies in our communities.
Thank you all so much for your support. Please stay healthy and let's continue to care for one another in the coming months.
In friendship,
Geraldine
Communications Officer
Brick by Brick Uganda
