How You Can Help During the Coronavirus Pandemic
You can be a lifeline.
The world is reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Isolation, lockdowns and suppressed economic activity are already hurting families around the world – and we know that likely includes your family, too. We are thinking of you during these tough times.
We are also worried about the children and families we serve.
These families already struggle to put food on the table, to find clean water, to get the health care they need. For many of them who live in crowded conditions, social distancing is impossible. COVID-19 – whether it affects vulnerable children and families indirectly, through economic disruption, or directly, by spreading throughout their communities – could cause devastating, exponential harm.
We’re working hard to prevent that, but no matter what happens, we will be there to support children. Our ongoing programs already include measures that will help keep them safe, like hygiene education and handwashing practices. In response to this pandemic, we are ramping up these efforts to help ensure that vulnerable communities have handwashing stations, clear guidance on how to use them and a full understanding of why handwashing is more important now than ever.
As you know from your own experience, every preventive action helps, and every person can make a difference to stop the spread of this virus. That includes every child in our programs, every member of their families – and you.
We are worried about the children we serve, but you can help us be there for them. Give now. Be a lifeline today.
More updates about our operations during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- We are engaging with the ministries of health and education in all the countries where we work to help bolster their nationwide efforts to protect children from COVID-19 and sustain the services they need.
- Locally, we have had to pivot from our usual programming to activities that focus on keeping children and families healthy and safe from this specific emergency. This means that sponsor correspondence with children will likely see significant delays.
- Where health systems are weak, we are working with corporate partners to deliver medical supplies – like a 20-foot container full of medical supplies, medicines and masks that The Gambia just received.
- We have suspended all international travel, including sponsor visits to the field, until further notice.
- As many staff as possible are working virtually to prevent the spread of the disease.
- We know you are concerned about your sponsored child, but please understand that we are unable to answer questions about specific children, for two reasons: To preserve families’ privacy, we cannot share personal medical information; and in-country ChildFund staff members are not readily available to track down those answers during this challenging time. Thank you for bearing with us through any slowdowns in customer service. Know that we are keeping a close eye on the situation and will provide updates as we receive them.