CORONA AID
for our partner city Dar es Salaam
Dear friends of global health,
we receive urgent requests for support from our partner city Dar es Salaam. Corona has now arrived there and the people are afraid because Dar es Salaam is the hotspot of Tanzania. Many there do not have the means to purchase additional needed items, such as disinfectants and protective clothing. Poor people in particular are in need.
What is it about at the moment?
In Dar es Salaam, a curfew cannot be implemented because over 70% of the population works in the informal sector and relies on daily earnings to provide food for their families. Due to the cramped living conditions, keeping a distance is not possible. Markets and public transport are particularly crowded. (Both offer the most acquisition opportunities)
Regular hand washing and masks, as well as good information, are now the key measures to limit the spread of the virus in these neighborhoods. Three partners have approached us for support.
The Kigamboni Community Center and the umbrella organization of Tanzanian youth organizations plan to go door-to-door with volunteers to provide information in poor neighborhoods. The Ladies Joint Forum aims to educate the people of Vingunguti, targeting women in particular. For this, the volunteers need protective clothing.
So that it doesn’t stop them from educating, there need to be hand-washing stations – there is hardly any running water for washing hands – and masks that are affordable for people in these neighborhoods.
Other groups are to make water tanks for hand washing. On the one hand, this stimulates the local economy and gives people an income. These are produced locally and therefore a bit cheaper. A subsidy through donations would make it possible to offer the masks at an affordable price in these neighborhoods. It is precisely for this co-financing that we need donations.
The Tanzanian government is doing what it can. It has defined Amana Hospital as the headquarters for Corona patients, banned gatherings, and closed schools… but even these hospitals lack basic equipment.
In addition, there is another important problem:
When people are sick, the first thing they do is not take a crowded bus to go to another part of the 5 million metropolis. No, they go to the local health center or hospital, such as Rugambwa Hospital. The doctors and nurses care for the patients until they are transferred, which can take up to three days. But in the health centers, there is hardly any protective clothing and no FFP2 protective masks, as the CSSC sees on a daily basis. If this does not change very quickly, then there is a danger that basic health care for the population in
Dar es Salaam collapses. It’s just as critical as in the fire department.
In these areas, partners are asking for money for infection control, protective clothing, disinfectants, and masks.
Given the particular situation and urgency, it is important at the moment to help the people of Dar es Salaam early before the disease spreads more widely. Still, the needed things can be bought on the local market.
This emergency aid is needed now and we can ensure that it reaches the population quickly and directly because we have been working with our partners for a long time.
Therefore, we would like to ask you to support us and donate for the health workers and the disadvantaged in Dar es Salaam. Because:
“Solidarity is tenderness between people.”
ASANTE SANA FOR YOUR DONATION*!
Circle of Friends Hamburg-Dar es Salaam e.V.
IBAN: DE84 8306 5408 0004 8587 19
BIC: GENO DEF1 SLR
KEYWORD: „Corona Hilfe Dar“
* According to the decision of the Federal Ministry of Finance of 09 April 2020, donations to Corona help can be tax-deductible in unlimited amounts, by proof of cash deposit or bank statement (also PC).
Do you have any further questions?
Inken Bruns
Cooperation Center
Hamburg – Dar es Salaam
bruns@diakonie-hamburg.de
Phone 040 30620-429
Fax 040 30620-340
Feel free to call me!
Asante Sana for the use of the great pictures! © IMANI NSAMILA
He is also happy to receive a donation or collaboration!
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