Dear friends – First of all we wish to extend our heartfelt wishes to all of you around the world who may be experiencing health, financial or psychological difficulties due to the Coronavirus or the knock on effects of restrictions put in place to prevent its spread.
As you may have heard Uganda has its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus. The government has taken early precautions to try and prevent its spread because the virus could potentially have a devastating effect due to the amount of overcrowding, malnourishment and underlying health conditions of the population as well as lack of medical facilities and staff. Social distancing is being advised with educational facilities being closed and gatherings prohibited until further notice. Other governmental advice to Ugandans includes:
Boosting health – by eating a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables and fruit, drinking lots of fluids and eating regularly
Hygienic practices – such washings hands regularly and avoiding touching the face with unwashed hands and clapping.
Here at Starlight Family we have closed the school and are hoping to help our local community in the following ways:
Community health workshops – We feel sharing information is very important as many people in the community do not have access to this information and there are also many vulnerable people in our community. Director Lukyamuzi James has already attended a health workshop in Kampala and we are permitted to arrange for groups of ten people (providing they do not sit closely to each other ) to receive health education and training in relation to the Coronavirus and its spread.
Food security – by increasing food production we can make sure that nutritious food is available for the children and vulnerable in our local community now and for the future. We are aware that if this situation goes on for too long we may experience a drop in donations therefore increasing food production is very important.
If you are able to help we are looking for financial support for the following:
Creating informative posters for workshops and to provide reminders in public places
Provision of hand washing and hand sterilising items
Provision of masks for those who are identified as benefiting from them the most
Purchasing food to make sure the children under our care and vulnerable people in the community can improve immunity through proper nutrition
Purchasing seeds and gardening equipment for our land
Donations can be made via PayPal at paypal.me/starlightfamilyworld
We thank you for taking the time to read our update and send our love and blessings as always
Lukyamuzi James and volunteers
