COVID-19 Emergency AID for Rural&Nomadic Nigeriens

Project Report | Jan 22, 2021
Resilience in the Face of Challenges

By Katherine Kolios | Executive Director

Distributing masks so students can attend school

Since our last update, Covid cases in Niger have almost quadrupled to 4,267. Fortunately, the rate of Covid deaths remains low. With this most recent spike in cases, the Nigerien government is, once again, enacting stricter regulations.

After a delayed opening in October (due to nationwide flooding), schools were temporarily closed again from late December through early January. When schools reopened in January, students without masks were turned away. While we hope this new policy will encourage more people to wear masks, it's just as likely to reduce the number of students attending school.

RAIN is stepping in to support primary and secondary school children's education as well as the government's efforts at reducing virus transmission.

We are continuing to enact community wide trainings to not only encourage mask wearing, hand washing, and other such practices but also - critically - to ensure communities understand why they're being asked to modify their behaviors. For this initiative to work, it cannot be a top-down mandate from the government; there must be local buy-in. RAIN is also distributing an additional 1,800 masks to ensure that students cannot be refused entry to their schools because they don't have access to an appropriate mask.

If you can, please give today -- or ask your friends or neighbors to join you in giving, so these children can remain safe as the covid pandemic continues.

One mask costs less than 50 cents. For just a few dollars, euros, or pounds, you could help keep several students in school - safely.

Access to masks ensures studies can continue

Links:

Permalink

Aug 25, 2020
Support is Vital During Tough Times

By Katherine Kolios | Executive Director

When we first posted this project, there were 696 cases of COVID-19 in Niger. Now, there are 1,172. While the government has done an excellent job stemming the spread of the virus, we aren't out of the woods yet. COVID reiterated the importance of communities being able to meet their basic needs locally. Rural and nomadic communities without access to safe water are at significant risk if the coronavirus or another disease infiltrates the population. They are also most vulnerable to price fluctuations as they have limited access to markets and goods. Now, more than ever, our partner communities need support – and you can help.

As a safety measure, schools across Niger closed for two months in April and May. They reopened in June to finish out the school year. RAIN sought to help ensure schools in our partner communities could re-open safely.

RAIN’s Field Team, led by Director of Programs Boube Aw:

Distributed over 40 cartons of soap – over 1,000 extra-large bars of soap. Soap was given to 101 women mentors in the Agadez region of Niger in the villages of Aouderas, Batarmatas, Tinteloust, Etaghas, Eferouane Nord and Soulefet. In turn, these women coordinated distribution to students and families across all 6 villages.
Established 5 washing stations to serve local middle school students and to decrease their risk of virus transmission as they return to school.
Delivered awareness building & training seminars on the transmission of COVID-19 - encouraging people to follow the five steps outlined by Niger’s Department of Health (wear a mask, cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid shaking hands, wash your hands with soap, & remain at home or, if out, retain at least one meter of distance from others).

We believe in the power of these entrepreneurial women, these curious children, and these committed families to build their own futures – but we also know how hard that is to do without support. Your help can ensure that these basic vital needs are met so that education and opportunity do not need to be put on hold for COVID.

No one knows what the remainder of 2020 holds or how the situation with COVID-19 will evolve, but we do know that the challenges these communities face aren’t going away. We are committed to continued support for these communities, whether schools re-open in September or not. We hope you will stand by us to ensure they continue to have access to the food and resources they need to persevere.

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.