Coronavirus Update - 1st May 2020

Dear John,

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our team is working hard across East Africa to limit the impact on under-resourced communities and prevent a catastrophic outbreak.

In the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, one of the ways we’re contributing is by supporting frontline workers, such as border officials like soldier Mukhtar (pictured above) and registrar Ayaan (pictured below) – sharing supplies, providing safety advice and screening people crossing the border for signs of infection. 

Mukhtar and Ayaan are stationed on the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia. Like key workers everywhere, they have to contend with limited resources, limited trust of public officials and limited understanding of both the disease and the measures being taken to slow its spread.

Mukhtar tells us: “Our biggest worry aside from the shortage of personal protective equipment is panic. People who come to the border refuse to be checked and always say “we are fine, we are not sick”. If we try to force them…they say “this is not a check-up, you guys are infecting us with something” and sometimes this causes panic in all the other passengers which may threaten our security”.

Ayaan also faces serious challenges and risks in her role, explaining: “Sometimes a lot of people come at the same time…we have to gather all the people into my office to ensure they are checked. This makes me particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, on top of that we do not have enough personal protective equipment".

While there’s still not enough personal protective equipment for key workers like Mukhtar and Ayaan, we’re working as hard as possible to provide essentials, such as masks and gloves, and keep people safe. In addition, we’re also speaking with local communities to educate people about COVID-19 and combat misinformation. People often say that ‘knowledge is power’. At this critical time, we can see that it is literally a matter of life and death.

If you would like to contribute to preventing the spread of COVID-19 by supporting work like this, you can donate here.