Power of Love’s COVID education/Safe Park program provides a safe place for children to play and learn. Education on COVID, HIV and malaria prevention, PPE, a safe place for children to learn/share are provided resulting in improved physical and mental health of hundreds of children and their families.
Need for SP/COVID workshops: In resource poor neighborhoods, residents do not have access to accurate information regarding COVID, safety of the COVID vaccine, treatment for children living with HIV who contract COVID, etc. This has led to uncertainty and the spread of false information.
Our response: Since last year, our team at the request of several pastors, has been holding workshops for the benefit of their congregations. Education on the COVID vaccine, proper hygiene, and PPE are provided at these meetings. Community members are encouraged to get both shots of the COVID vaccine. In the first three months of 2022, 307 children benefitted from these workshops. In addition, 200 children received long lasting insecticide treated nets so that they can stay safe from malaria. Finally, we are partnering with community libraries so that children can access books from the library with the goal of improving their reading and writing skills.
Our plan is to continue to provide a safe environment for children to play and learn and keep communities informed about COVID, malaria, and HIV prevention. This program activities go a long way in keeping families healthy and children in school.
Thank you!
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Power of Love’s COVID education/Safe Park program provides a safe place for children to play and learn. provision of education on COVID, HIV and malaria prevention, and PPE have resulted in improved physical and mental health of hundreds of children and their families. Last year, several church pastors invited us to conduct program activities in their church premsies so that congregation members could benefit.
Program activities are popular with community members. This is illustrated by a testimony provided by the grandmother of a child who participated in the educational games and COVID workshops. Given below is the testimony by the grandmother:
“From the time my daughter died, my grandson has been sick and not active like the other child hence I was wondering what could be the problem with my grandson? After attending a COVID-19 workshop and hearing about covid-19, HIV and others issues that affect children I came home and got the courage to take the child to the hospital. From the teaching I learnt that it is important to know one’s HIV/AIDS status. I remembered that my late daughter who was the mother of the grandchildren under my care had died of AIDS. I immediately told the health worker to do an HIV test on my grandchild which come out positive. I did not go back home straight I went to Matero care center where they welcomed me very well. I explained to the child and youth care worker and the child was put on the program hence was encouraged to take the other child who seemed to be very fine. I did like I was told the test come out positive too. I am very thankful for the organization for lightening the burden and indeed like they say without knowledge people perish”, she said.
Our plan is to continue to keep communities informed about COVID, and HIV prevention so that families learn about disease prevention, take steps to stay healthy, and children can attend school.
Thank you!
Links:
The Power of Love team extends heartfelt thanks for your dedication to making the world a better place.
Looking back, 2021 was a year that made us stronger and proud of our teams and beneficiary families in Zambia and India. Our care process for the children, revamped due to COVID last year, was further strengthened so that we are monitoring the health of children more closely than ever. We doubled down on collecting more data. In addition, the provision of COVID education and PPE has kept families safe from COVID. We were able to safely distribute 15,000 mosquito nets and prepare the community for the upcoming malaria season. Since many families were impacted economically, we were able to expand the loans program so that more women became self-sufficient. We could not have done this without your support. Thank you!
Please take a few minutes to listen to this popular Zambian song. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Sending you and your family a whole lot of love for the holiday season and for 2022.
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Our workshops are now mobile: We have redesigned the COVID workshops such that more children and families can benefit. For the past three months, COVID education is provided in two additional locations within the community of Matero, in Lusaka, Zambia. The local municipality and churches are partnering with our team to provide information on COVID prevention and safety and to give the children an opportunity to learn and play in a safe environment. In addition, families are counseled on issues pertaining to HIV, COVID, TB, and the child’s mental and physical development.
A testimonial: One of the participants of this workshop, a child’s grandmother, related her experience as follows:
“From the time my daughter died, my grandson has been sick and not active like the other child hence I was wondering what could be the problem with my grandson”, she said. “After attending “Safe Park” workshop and hearing about covid-19, HIV and others issues that affect children I come home and got the courage to take the child to the hospital. From the teaching I learnt that it is important to know one’s HIV-AIDS status. I remembered that my late daughter who was the mother of the grandchildren under my care had died of HIV-AIDS. I immediately told the health worker to do an HIV test on my grandchild which come out positive. I did not go back home straight I went to Matero Care Center where they welcomed me very well. I explained to the child and youth care worker and the child was put on the program hence was encouraged to take the other child who seemed to be very fine. I did like I was told the test come out positive too. I am very thankful for the organization for lightening the burden and indeed like they say without knowledge people perish”, she said.
The goal of these workshops is to educate families regarding COVID, and HIV prevention. Children learn and play via educational games in a safe environment. For example, children are encouraged to express themselves freely and share their views on the pandemic through writing, drawing, or conversation. In addition, they learn about the importance of frequent hand washing with soap, and the proper way to use masks. Masks and a small snack are provided.
We plan to continue to keep communities informed about COVID, so that families can stay healthy, and children can attend school.
Thanks for keeping children and families healthy and safe from COVID.
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The ongoing pandemic has made life more difficult for vulnerable communities globally. In resource poor communities, more families face food insecurity due to the impact of COVID, and other factors such as climate change and conflict. For the last 18 months our goal has been to keep vulnerable communities educated on COVID prevention, safe from COVID, and to ensure that children continue with schoolwork.
The COVID education workshops launched last year, provide information on COVID prevention and safety. The goal of these workshops is to provide a safe, clean, and supervised place for children to interact and express themselves through educational activities such as drawing, singing or creative writing. Children are encouraged to express themselves freely and share their views on the pandemic through writing, drawing, or conversation. The workshops are held in a safe manner and children learn about the importance of frequent hand washing with soap, and the proper way to use masks. These workshops are free and open to all children from Matero and neighboring communities. Masks and a small snack are provided.
A story that illustrates the impact of program activities is given below: Tim, a 10-year-old boy was not on good terms with his aunt who is his sole caregiver. His stubborn and disrespectful behavior was a source of concern for his family. A friend of his aunt advised her to discuss the situation with our team. Subsequently, a social worker met and counselled them individually. During the counselling session it was discovered that Tim was not fully aware or understood that his mom had passed away. He missed his mom and could not understand why he had to live with his aunt. Once the situation was explained to him, he felt better and started accepting the new situation. Now both Tim and his aunt are happy. Recently, Tim’s aunt visited the center to thank our team for their counsel and advice.
We plan to continue to continue to keep communities informed about COVID, so that families can stay healthy, and children can attend school.
Thank you!
Links:
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