In Zambia, we support a community livelihoods program at Tikondane (Tiko) community centre.
Tiko relies on its tourist accommodation and restaurant as a significant portion of funding for its community programs. The advent of COVID-19 has meant that Tiko lost most of its income. All bookings for the year have been cancelled. Donations to Tiko are expected to be low this year as the virus affects people and communities across the globe.
For Tiko, all of this means that they will struggle to provide the employment and assistance that they normally would within the community. Helping local staff to source seeds, and small livestock to ensure their food security across the hunger season will be difficult.
As a community organisation, Tiko has worked hard to ensure the safety of its staff and their families during the pandemic. There have been general meetings to educate people about COVID-19 – basic rules such as handwashing with soap for 20 seconds and social distancing were demonstrated. Buckets with water and soap are positioned at every building and the Tiko entrance is blocked to visitors. The crew at Tiko are also working on ensuring that everyone understands what to do if they feel unwell and how to isolate themselves from others. They are making soap for community distribution and doing everything they can remotely, to avoid visits into town.
Small houses and big families make isolation and social distancing difficult in Zambia and the Tiko crew are working hard to find ways for individuals to isolate themselves if they are unwell. They will also be making masks to give to anyone who is unwell.
The health system is not prepared for a pandemic and it is unlikely that health workers will be provided with basic protective equipment. There has been some effort by the government to provide care and isolation spaces for people with COVID-19 in urban areas but there is very little capacity for testing and treating COVID-19. At Tiko, they keep a stock of medicines for other common complaints but the cost to buy them locally has increased drastically and items such as paracetamol are not available at all, perhaps due to hoarding in other parts of the world.
The government has placed restrictions on meetings larger than 10 people, schools are closed and there are no street vendors. Shops are still open, but it seems likely that many people will not have the money to buy even basic goods in the near future. Tiko is looking forward to harvesting soon and will have food to get through to the end of the year, but many people in the local community will be looking for assistance.
The Tiko crew are trying to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by building isolation annexes. But while they look to keep themselves and their communities safe, they are still teaching and supporting families to create sustainable kitchen gardens, composting toilets and healthy habits while diversifying their income. The crew are still practising yoga so that they might create a yoga retreat for when the world is ready to travel again.