Hygiene kits distribution and Covid-19 prevention campaign

With very limited health facilities for 11 million people, Haiti is among the countries in the Americas most vulnerable to COVID-19. At the same time, the population, especially in rural areas, is not informed about the measures to be taken to avoid the spread of the virus and the risks in the communities. At the national level, a campaign was carried out by sending messages on mobile phones, but it did not reach all the people, as many Haitians are illiterate, lack mobile phones and the technology to access social networks.

Families that were already in difficult socio-economic conditions became even more vulnerable as the pandemic and food insecurity increased. Due to prevention measures, people have had to stay at home: many of them, working in informal employment, have lost the daily income to provide for the basic needs of the family.

AIM OF THE PROJECT:

In order to respond to the health and economic emergency, the project planned two activities: to invest as soon as possible in an information campaign on Covid-19 using communication channels accessible to the population, and to distribute food and hygiene kits to families most in need.

For the information campaign, radio messages were created and community visits organised using a vehicle equipped with a sound system and megaphone. The campaign reached the communities of Dame Marie and Latiboliere, which consist of 35,000 people. The prevention campaign team also included doctors and nurses who during the visits collected information on the health conditions of the population and on the possible presence of Covid outbreaks to be reported to the local authorities.

The distribution of food and hygiene kits was targeted at the population of four Marist school communities, which also include a group of restavek children (domestic workers) attending a special programme for their reintegration into school.

Through the project, 1485 food baskets and hygiene kits were distributed to a total of 5940 people reached, 50% of whom were children. The beneficiaries spontaneously decided to share some of the goods received with neighbours and other family members, thus increasing the number of people assisted. The distribution of emergency aid had to be limited to the population of the Marist school communities because this was the only way to properly monitor the distribution and proper use of the project’s resources.