Call for donations for Covid-19 Prevention and Emergency Aid Fund

Projects urgently need support for important measures in the areas of Prevention, Health and Food Supply, Education, as well as Work and Income

The Corona crisis is confronting people in all parts of the world with unprecedented challenges. The consequences of the ongoing and sometimes intensified “lock-downs” are most devastating for people in need, especially children and young people, and affect all our projects. While people in Germany can continue to lead an almost orderly life thanks to a comparatively good social security system and extensive emergency aid packages provided by the German government, the situation in many of our project countries looks significantly worse. Job losses or bans on exercising their professions have the consequence that young adults and their families have to survive without any income at all. In densely populated slums there is no possibility to keep the physical distancing measures, food prices are rising very strongly in some places and in some parts there is no access to clean drinking water anymore.

However, the last few days have also shown us that strong cohesion and commitment to others is the central component of our help alliance DNA. With incredible dedication and creative commitment, the project leaders and the responsible persons of the respective partner organisations are also active in this emergency situation and provide help where it is most needed and where support is still possible.

For this reason, today we are launching a Covid-19 Prevention and Emergency Aid Fund with the aim of slowing down the spread of the virus, continuing to care for those affected within the help alliance projects and maintaining educational opportunities as far as possible.

Help us and support important measures (see below) in our projects with your donation. As always, 100 percent of your donation goes directly to the local projects. 

Donate now for the help alliance projects in the Corona crisis!

The Covid-19 Prevention and Emergency Aid Fund supports measures in the four areas of prevention, health and food supply, education, as well as work and income, depending on the individual needs of the projects. In the following we will give you an overview of what is already being implemented in our projects:

Prevention

In the project “Tent schools for refugees” flyers were developed and distributed to show the children and their families the most important hygiene measures in an easily understandable way.

Further measures in other projects:

• Adaptation of health and hygiene measures in the projects, e.g. washing hands
• Distribution of protective masks to project participants
• Limiting the number of participants in our activities e.g. training courses, group meetings

Health and food supply

In the project “Education for children in Accra at Kinder Paradise”, the newly built cold store was stocked with food and hygiene articles at an early stage in order to cover the needs of the project for a few weeks. Due to the lock-down, it is to be expected that only a limited amount of food can be purchased over a longer period of time.

Four volunteers (2 former Sunshine children, 1 employee and our rickshaw driver) manage the distribution of food for the children in the “Sunshine Project” in New Delhi. The children stand in line on painted circles (1,5m distance) to pick up the food at the door of the project. They are not allowed to go further out of the slums. In addition, the children continue to receive immune-boosting homeopathic medicine and vitamin C capsules.

Further measures in other projects:

• Ensuring access to soap and hygiene products
• Distribution of disinfectants
• Equipping the project regions with washing stations and latrines

Education

Children in Düsseldorf who took part in the “Destination Educational opportunities” project before Corona receive individually tailored learning materials by post as part of the Cosinus@home measure. This enables them to continue to work on their learning deficits in a targeted manner.

Further measures in other projects:

• Online learning modules for children and young people
• Telephone advice for parents

Work & Income

Eight apprentices of the project “Bilingual education with prospects for young people in Lomé/Togo”, who are trained as stylists or tailors, have gone into the production of face masks. Although the training centres are closed due to Corona, they were able to bring their sewing machines (which were financed by the help alliance) home and have been eagerly participating for days. The face masks are made of 100% cotton and can be used again after washing with boiling water.

Further measures in other projects:

• Online mentoring and support with digital tools