Situation in Zimbabwe with Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has the world firmly under control. Unfortunately, it hits poor countries particularly hard. Even before Corona, both medical care and the food situation were critical in Zimbabwe. In addition, there are particularly many vulnerable people living here, exacerbated by high levels of HIV.

While the official case numbers in Zimbabwe are low, these statistics are unlikely to be robust. Especially in rural areas there is a lack of simple things, expensive Corona tests are simply not available here. The unreported number of SARS-CoV-2 positive people is likely to be far above the official number.

Since European-style infection control cannot be implemented in Zimbabwe, the government is trying to prevent the further spread of the pandemic by means of drastic measures. In addition to school closures, far-reaching curfews have been imposed. Tourism, the most important economic pillar, came to a complete standstill. Many people have already become unemployed and are often unable to feed themselves and their families. In some cases, they are forced to expose themselves to the risk of infection in order to ensure their survival.

For the period after Covid-19, the forecast is poor. Most people will have lost their jobs. And even if they can keep them, they will earn significantly less than before. It will be years before tourism has re-established itself as a reliable source of income. The deaths caused by the Covid-19 will continue to increase the number of orphans.

Influence on Umhambi’s work in Zimbabwe

Schools are currently closed, e-learning as an alternative is not possible for most students due to lack of technical equipment. The graduates planned for June 2020 had no opportunity to graduate from school. The situation is similarly bad for leavers in November 2020. At the moment, it seems that their efforts have been in vain.

In general, the Corona pandemic is expected to result in an increasing number of orphans and a worsening supply situation for orphans already housed in families. Due to the school closures, Umhambi’s work in Zimbabwe has changed. The need has shifted away from educational opportunities and into the essential. For example, Umhambi’s staff are currently mainly engaged in providing food for the children in their families.

For the above reasons, an increasing financial demand is to be expected in the future.

What does this mean for us as a club?

Unfortunately, Corona has also changed our plans for the beginning of our association work. We are currently focusing on providing Umhambi children with food.

By the time schools reopen, we hope to have received enough donations to fund school fees and learning resources. Despite all the acute problems, we want to continue to work on the implementation of some planned projects. On the one hand to lay the foundation for the time after the Corona Pandemic, on the other hand to enable Umhambi to survive the crisis as well as possible on its own.