Although the government of Tanzania tries to increase the awareness on COVID-19 and promotes sanitary and hygiene in towns and cities, only little has been done for the rural and marginalized communities. Many of those who lost their employment due to COVID-19 went back to villages for food and shelter. This has a negative impact on the rural communities if necessary measures are not taken.
Voice of Youth Tanzania came up with the program on awareness creation on the disease and provides support to the most susceptible communities in Arumeru District Arusha region. We aim to inform people on COVID-19, including how it spreads, its symptoms and preventive measures.
Programs Objectives
We Are Engaged In All Possible Ways
In order to successfully change combat the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas, we created and implemented different projects.
Provision of Sanitary and Hygiene Material to the Community
So far we have distributed much material to centers selected by our leadership. These families and groups received buckets with a cork for hand washing, refillable bottles of liquid soaps, hand sanitizers and masks.
Creation of Public Awareness
In order to inform the people living in rural areas on the ongoing pandemic, its virus and other relevant information related to this topic, we provide material and display big banners with relevant information on the COVID-19 symptoms and the preventive measures. Furthermore, our staff works with health officers, holds presentations and answers questions. Additionally, we distribute flyers, brochures, posters and more reading material. Furthermore, we provide information on healthy nutrition in order to boost the immune system of our community.
Provision of Personal Protective Equipment
We provided 57 units of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which includes the over coat, trousers, shoes and gloves. These were given to the district medical officer who will distribute the material to the health centers which are set apart for taking care of COVID-19 cases. The demand of PPEs is very high, which makes this activity a priority.
Our Project In The Near Future
The youth face several problems, such as economic issues that have become even worse due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although the government and institutions work on this issue, the unemployment rate among youth is still high due to limited access to financial services, knowledge, skill-training and a shortage of decent job opportunities.
In order to promote economic resilience, we have a project in mind that includes skill training by professionals, workshops and teaching on financial literacy and the organization of an event, where all the participants have the opportunity to sell their produced goods, do some networking and feel economically empowered. We believe that this will have a long-lasting effect as the COVID-19 pandemic might not be the last crisis that will challenge the youth financially.
The goal of this project is to empower the participants to establish their own micro-business in order for them to be financially stable and to contribute to the economic development.
In order to successfully implement this project,
we need your help.
Thank you for your contribution.