ZAMBIA: Awareness Creation on Covid-19, Key Activity for Religious Nuns in Zambia
Sr Kazembe carrying out demonstration during COVID-19 awareness creation
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As Covid-19 pandemic continues to threaten people’s lives, Religious women in Zambia through Zambia Association of Sisterhoods (ZAS), are in the forefront sensitizing people about Coronavirus and ways to prevent its spread in the country.
“ZAS through the SCORE-ECD (Strengthening the Capacity of Religious women in Early Childhood Development) project, went around the sites where the Sisters are implementing activities to sensitize people about the virus,” the association’s Secretary General Sr. Elizabeth Muleya, told AMECEA online, Thursday, June 4.
SCORE-ECD is a project coordinated by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with support from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to promote holistic development of children.
According to Sr. Muleya, “The SCORE ECD Project Manager sourced funding through the Dominican Sisters to help fight COVID-19 and prevent transmission among pregnant and lactating mothers.”
The activities which have been conducted on 6 sites during the month of May, aimed at distributing sensitization materials to all the SCORE ECD sites, observing the activities the nuns are conducting in the community, and to appreciate the challenges being experienced during the Covid-19 period.
“Our sole message was about COVID-19 sensitization, information sharing, and understanding what the community knows about the virus,” Sr Muleya herself a member of Good Shepherd Sisters said, adding that through interaction, they realized some people were ignorant about the deadly disease while others believed Coronavirus is not real.
Sr. Muleya disclosed that the funds received were used to purchase supplies like handwashing buckets, facemasks, gloves, printed materials for sensitization programs, and handwashing soaps which were distributed to all the SCORE-ECD sites managed by nuns from different congregations.
“We taught them how to make hand sanitizers, advised them to disinfect and keep surfaces clean and that they should not cough into their hands,” Sr. Muleya underscored some of the activities they carried out in the community.
“Above all, we advised them to stay at home and avoid visiting others unless there is an urgent matter that cannot wait. Once they go out, they should follow prevention Guidelines such as wearing of face masks, avoiding large crowds, shaking hands and always maintain at least one-meter distance with the next person,” she said.
According to Sr. Muleya, the greatest challenge the nuns faced during the exercise is the fact that most people cannot afford buying hand washing soap or sanitizer and facemasks. Besides, “Social distance is difficult for them to observe given how have people traditionally socialize in community.”
“After sensitization and awareness creation, people are now aware about the disease and they understand that COVID-19 is real and kills,” Sr Muleya told AMECEA Online, highlighting the outcome realized after the Religious women’s visits last month.
ZAS’s Secretary also said, “ZAS is still restructuring some of the project activities in order to design further interventions of COVID-19.”
As at Thursday, June 4, Zambia had recorded a total of 1,089 Coronavirus cases including 912 recoveries and 7 deaths.
