COVID-19 Support grandmothers & children in Uganda

Uganda COVID 19 Update:

All Schools apart from international schools are still closed until January 2022. Universities are scheduled to reopen in November 2021 and only vaccinated students will attend physical

lectures. Universities and some secondary schools are conducting online lessons. As of

October 23, 2021, Uganda had registered a cumulative number of 125,758 confirmed

cases, 48new cases, 3,200 deaths and 96,510 recoveries. By this date 2,854,082 doses of the vaccine had been administered.

Scale up vaccination by prioritizing vaccination for 4.8 million of the priority population (teachers, health workers, elderly, security personnel and students above 18 years). Vaccination sites have been increased to include bars, places of worship and smaller health level facilities in order to bring the four different vaccines available nearer to the people. These steps will eventually lead to safe reopening of various sections.

Nyaka Community Covid Cases:

We are happy to report, there have not been cases reported from July to September among Nyaka staff. Despite our efforts to get community members vaccinated and safety precautions, unfortunately, 22 grandmothers contracted COVID-19. 16 of these grandmothers recovered and six grandmothers died from the virus between July and September. We are working diligently to prevent anymore community deaths. 

Nyaka Operational Response To Covid 19:

Nyaka was recommended by United States Agency for International Development

(USAID) as one of the partners that can help with vaccine uptake in South Western Uganda. Nyaka’s Country Director and Program Manager have held discussions with Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), one of the implementing USAID partners in Western Uganda, to see how best they can support mobilizing communities for increased vaccine uptake. 

All Nyaka services are operational except schools. Students are allowed to come to the libraries to borrow books and also access the internet for those who have online classes as long as they observe standard operating procedures. Teachers continue to support students through clusters and provision of study materials. We also continue to reach grandmothers to educate them about COVID-19 and SGBV.

Keeping our students and grandmothers at the forefront of our minds, we continue to look for support to cover additional costs associated with meeting COVID-19 safety requirements, preparing for the safe resumption of program activities (e.g., schools and community outreaches) in line with government guidelines, providing accurate information on COVID-19 preventive to the community and encouraging community members to get vaccinated. Which has been done through radio programs by different Nyaka staff in  collaboration with voluntary health teams, district officials, health staff from hospitals and other health facilities as well as and other stakeholders in the community.

Links:

• Nyaka Website