On March 11 (local time), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared covid-19 a Pandemic, the highest level of alarm, as the corona virus is spreading all over the world. As of now (June 12), the number of confirmed cases is more than 7.54 million and the death toll exceeds 420,000 worldwide.
[Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (2020.6.12 14:00) ]
# Pandemic: A pandemic is the highest level of alarm (Level 6) declared by the WHO. If a disease rapidly spreads among people and gets infectious in more than two continents, the WHO declares a pandemic. Black Death (pest), the Spanish flu, and the Hong Kong flu were categorized as a pandemic in human history, and the WHO has declared only three times of a pandemic (the Hong Kong flu in 1968, the swine flu in 2009 and covid-19 in 2020) since its establishment in 1948.
According to the official source of Rwanda, the number of those confirmed positive is 494 and those dead is 2 (as of June 12). However, these figures are expected to be even higher considering the poor medical system of the country and the situation where people have little access to medical facilities.
Most of Rwandans are making a living as a daily worker (daily farmer, driver, houseboy, housekeeper). However, due to the covid-19 outbreak, many people are suffering from hunger and desperation after losing their jobs and hardly getting by for months.
[ Residents asking for food near the local government building ]
[This lady was asking for food to HUMAN IN LOVE, but had to go back to home after failing to be listed in the recipient list for relief items ]
Many desperate residents are visiting the government building to get some food, but the Rwandan government cannot provide adequate support due to lack of budget.
”More and more households are in desperate need of support as the covid-19 restrictions are extended, but the government cannot provide enough support. Hence, we’re asking for support to HUMAN IN LOVE with a sincere heart.– Mayor Emmanuel Nsanzumuhire (Bugesera District)-
Upon the local government’s request for support, HUMAN IN LOVE has prepared covid-19 emergency relief items after consulting with the headquarters. The first targeted recipients were 100 households (total 467 people) who have vulnerable family members (mothers of infants, children, the elderly and disabled) while having not received any support so far among the poorest families in Niamata.
Based on the standard of “Sphere project”, which is designed to improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian support in a disaster, we studied Rwanda’s food culture and covid-19 prevention measures, and decided to distribute relief items – rice, flower, beans, cooking oil and soaps – which can be consumed by four family members in a month.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s coivd-19 emergency relief food items for Rwandan people ]
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s coivd-19 emergency relief food items for Rwandan ]
On April 24, we started to distribute the first food relief items.
With the collaboration of Kigali and Niamata police agencies, HUMAN IN LOVE visited 20 households (one person visited one household) and distributed relief items at five different timelines in order to prevent possible infection and keep the safety and order at the distribution sites. We contacted all the households in advance to let them know when we’re going to visit. Since many Rwandans were not wearing a mask, we made sure people were keeping the distance of 1m while waiting in line.
In the meantime, around 300 people saw the trucks that were delivering our relief items near the government building and they were waiting all night and asking for the items next day, which caused some confusion. Fortunately, there was no accident thanks to the police officers, but we felt really sorry for them.
The Rwandan branch of HUMAN IN LOVE will have the second round to provide relief food items in June. We’d like to ask for your continuous support for Rwandans who are suffering even more due to the covid-19 outbreak. Thanks.
