On 22 March, Uganda registered her first case of COVID-19 and the president has since then issued several directives aimed at protecting citizens against the spread of the disease. The Ministry of Health has since used various platforms to sensitize the masses about the spread of COVID- 19 and guide lines to protect them selves against the disease such as social distancing, avoid touching the mouth, eyes and nose and washing hands regularly with soap and water.
Our change champions are inspiring change in Kyaka II refuge settlement by supplementing governments effort towards the prevention of COVID-19 in the refuge settlement. They are running a hand wash campaign by making tippy taps for every household in the community. They collect small unused jerrycans from the community and these are used for making the tippy taps, as of 24th April they had distributed tippy taps to over 100 families in the areas of Kitonzi, SWESWEDAM1 and DAM 2 zones. The change champions also taught the people in the community how to wash their hands and make their own tippy taps.
The change champions are also sewing face masks from African wear fabric using their hands and 1 sewing machine. They have distributed these to the women and girls in the food markets to promote their safety while at work.
The Change Champions are also supporting Ministry of Health – Uganda community awareness program in their communities. They are using flip chats to translate COVID-19 prevention messages into Swahili and Lingala which are some of the common languages widely spoken in the settlement. These are strategically hanged in places with a lot of human traffic and where the messages can easily be read by the people in the community.
