Feed the hungry, COVID 19 - Cartagena

Families of isolated island communities have received help during COVID-19 crisis !

Thanks to your contributions, 5.650 households of Cartagena have been delivered food in the course of the past two months! In total, the island communities of Cartagena received 1.400 basic food provisions thanks to your generous support, and 4,250 kilos of fish thanks to a generous fish donation from the Antillana Company. The food has been delivered to the different island communities thanks to the help of the Colombian Naval Forces, and equally distributed to the different households with help by local community leaders - the Consejos Comunitarios. The whole operation, supervised by Fundación Bahía, has been done with the support of the Cartagena Mayor´s Office. Private partners for this project, Antillana and the Rotary Club Cartagena, have also contributed greatly.

As you are aware, with the arrival of the Covid-19 in Colombia and the confinement measures that quickly followed, it has been very difficult for a lot of people in Colombia to support their families. The island populations of Cartagena, which already suffered from poverty and mainly relied on tourism, hardly had the means to get through the quarantine on their own. Thanks to your contribution and the support of all the partners that joined us in this project, the island people of Cartagena have managed to withstand almost two months of quarantine.

What’s next?

The fight against Covid-19 in Colombia is far from being over. To this day the government of Colombia has declared that the quarantine will be effective at least until the 25th of May. Although, Fundación Bahía will keep helping island communities with basic provisions as long as necessary within its means, the next step is to prepare the island communities for a Smart Quarantine.

In order to prepare island communities for a less strict confinement and for the possibility of going back to work, Fundación Bahía is preparing to help with reusable face masks and alcohol supplies. The face masks are being done by Ms Camacho, in a very interesting partnership to help island communities but also the women head of families who work at the designer´s workshop, following strict sanitary provisions. It is very important not to produce more waste that could end up in our Ocean, thus the use of reusable masks.

The widespread use of face masks would enable people who need to go to work or to the market to move with the least possible danger of contagion. Fundación Bahía, partnering with Universidad Tadeo marketing department, has also designed a small instruction leaflet with basic information and clear recommendations for island communities regarding Covid-19. The gist of the information, face mask and sanitary campaign is that if you take care of yourself, you take care of all. We are all in this together and we will get through!

Many thanks for your continued support and for permitting us to pursue our work even during these trying times!

Warmest regards,

Diana de la Vega