By Ben Margetts | Director
2020 has been a challenging year for many small charities, and On Call Africa is no exception, but we are proud of how we have responded, with the help of our staff, trustees and volunteers, to support the Zambian health system. Over the last 6 months we have worked with the Ministry of Health to develop the national guidelines for Community Health Workers and safety officers in response to COVID19. At a regional level we have provided PPE, handwashing facilities, medicines, hand sanitiser and oxygen concentrators to the health centres and hospitals that needed it most. We have also provided training to partner organisations and worked with partners and district health offices to carry out community sensitisation in high risk areas.
In March we made the difficult decision to cease our core delivery, and our volunteers returned to the UK. As we look to return to project delivery in January, we are really excited to be doubling our reach from 9 to 18 communities, and to be moving into a new base that will accommodate our volunteers, act as a training centre, and collaborative space for us and our partners. While 2020 has been a challenging and busy year for On Call Africa, we are really excited about all that we have achieved to support our future growth in size and impact. Alongside our work to support COVID-19 response, we have developed a new strategy which places a greater emphasis on the sustainability of our impact through increased capacity building of the rural health system, and collaborative partnerships to improve health outcomes at community level. In 2021 we are excited to be partnering with Vero Power to provide solar power to our partner Rural Health Centres, and WaterAid to improve Water, Sanitation, and hygiene at both health centre and community level.
Over the coming months we will be looking to raise funds to support developments at our new base that will enhance the quality of Community Health Worker training that we can offer, and improve the working spaces for our team and our partner organisations such as the Ministry of Health, WaterAid and Vero Power.
We are incredibly grateful for the support of our donors and volunteers that have helped to make such a challenging year positive for the communities that we work with.
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