Our response to COVID-19 in Zambia

In Luangwa, the dedicated community that ChildFund New Zealand supports in Zambia, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the lives of children, youth and their families. Due to an ongoing drought, Zambians were already facing hardship and now, things are even worse for those families who are most in need.

Across Zambia, more than three million people have been reached by ChildFund’s COVID-19 response, with supplies and assistance. ChildFund is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other national services to distribute information on COVID-19 through mobile campaigns and community radio stations, along with distributing posters and flyers.

Providing financial assistance for families living in Luangwa...

Due to drought, most farmers in Zambia weren’t able to generate much produce to sell at local markets in 2019 and 2020.

With the arrival of COVID-19, local markets were shut down and the possibility of earning an income vanished completely. To help with this, ChildFund implemented a household cash distribution to vulnerable families. Across Zambia, more than 6,000 families received six months of financial support, giving them the opportunity to keep their family safe, and their children fed during this difficult time.

Improving access to education for sponsored children and youth in Luangwa...

Thanks to the support of ChildFund sponsors, we were able to construct three new classrooms in the Luangwa area. Because of this, the school will be able to offer more students the ability to go to class. Prior to the construction, children could only attend up until grade 4, and then have to travel to continue their studies. Now, the students can attend until completing grade 7!

To help improve the quality of education at the school, ChildFund also started constructing staff housing to attract qualified teachers to the Luangwa area. When this is complete, teachers will be able to spend more time teaching, and less time travelling to school.

ChildFund also distributed 26 thermal scanners to schools in the district to help fight the spread of COVID-19 among students. The scanners will be used to screen body temperatures of children and youth before they enter their classrooms.

To help some of the older sponsored children in their studies, ChildFund purchased and distributed educational materials (mathematics and science) to 114 students, which will be used to prepare for their grade 12 examinations.

Distributing medical equipment to respond to COVID-19 in our dedicated community...

With child sponsorship donations, we were able to provide our local partner with medical equipment for two Luangwa hospitals, which included four oxygen concentrators, a manual suction machine, 2 ICU beds, 20 hazmat suits, 20 suction tubes, and more.

We also provided the food for frontline workers, including checkpoint staff who screened more than 15,000 travellers for COVID-19.

Providing children and families with access to better quality water in their communities...

Thanks to the support of a generous ChildFund New Zealand child sponsor, four local boreholes have been rehabilitated (two in the community, and two at local schools). The boreholes will contribute to the prevention of COVID-19 and will help promote good hygiene through frequent handwashing.

With the support of New Zealand child sponsorship donations, ChildFund was also able to establish 26 handwashing facilities at all schools in the Luangwa district, so that learners can frequently wash their hands while at school. This contributes to preventing COVID-19 and promoting good hygiene amongst all students.

This article was written as part of our 2020 Annual Report. Click here to read the report today!