While Malawi does not yet have any reported cases of Covid-19, the speed at which the virus is spreading across the globe means it is only a matter of time before Malawi is also affected.
Last week, the Government of Malawi declared a State of Disaster, meaning that all schools have been closed, travel is restricted and large gatherings of more than 100 people are banned. People are being advised to adopt social distancing and wash their hands frequently to try and prevent the virus from spreading.
We, therefore, want to let you know the steps that we are taking to protect our staff and the communities we work with in Malawi as follows:
- Issued advice to all our staff on how they protect themselves and their families
- Stopped our volunteer and visitor programme
- Closed all Ripple Africa pre-schools
- Closed Mwaya Community Library
- Stopped our Family Planning and Disability Support visits
- Stopped visits to our environmental projects
As we work closely with the fishing and remote forest communities, as well as our cookstove beneficiaries and local farmers, we will pass on the government advice to them. Then we will work remotely, to ensure that both our staff and vulnerable community members are protected. We are working closely with the District Councils in Nkhata Bay and Nkhotakota to offer support where we can and our staff will follow all guidelines issued by the Government of Malawi as the situation progresses.
We hope that we can count on your continued support during this difficult time, so that we can keep the charity on a sound economic footing until the current restrictions are lifted and we can resume our full project activities again.
In the meantime, please keep looking at our social media posts – we have decided that at the moment, what we all need is something positive to help us through this worrying time, so hopefully we can cheer you up a bit!
Our very best wishes to you and your families – Stay safe, stay home and keep washing those hands!
