The Gambia is a little country on the westernmost part of the African continent. It is a country where women toil day in – day out to provide for their family members, a country where the poverty rate is very high and the daily earning is as low as €1. Which is barely even enough to cater for an individual more or less an entire family.
Putting this into consideration now that the COVID-19 outbreak has struck and people are advised to keep physical distance, which will be difficult knowing the fact that the people in the Gambia are very socialized.
Furthermore to avoid the spreading of the virus people are asked to stay home and many shops have been closed. The majority of the Gambians living from hand to mouth and make ends meet from the streets, markets or shops which are of course always crowded.
Many don’t have the privilege of self isolation or physical distancing (aka social distancing) because they have kids to feed and bills to pay. Because here, like many parts of the world, prevention from the Corona virus is a privilege many cannot afford precisely because the basic necessities of life don’t come by any easy. The people will still join crowded buses, shop in busy markets etc in the midst of hiking prices of commodities.
People cannot stay home without food,they will have go out to find food and if they do, they are at risk of getting infected and transmitting it to their family members and if they also decide to stay home they will die of starvation.
Therefore in as much as we want to advocate for physical distancing; there is a need for us to find a way out on how to help the needy sustain their family members by supporting them with provisions (food and personal-care products).
With food in the house, people will stay home and we can be able to contain the virus. More sensitization is needed as people need to know how deadly the virus, so they can take it seriously, more disinfectants and materials are needed for proper prevention.
If you like to support, please start your own initiative or contact us:
Email: thepeoplescollective@riseup.net
Food for the people
Shopping ….
… packing …
… and supplying
