COVID-19 Emergency Assistance for Aparc Community
Donation protected
All funds raised will provide emergency assistance to the Aparc Community, Kwania district, Uganda, which has been hard hit by the COVID-19 lock down.
The 76 families (just over 150 adults and over 300 children) include Jewish (Abayudaya), Christian and Muslim families living harmoniously together. Several of the families are headed by women who have been widowed or divorced, and are particularly vulnerable.
The community relies on farming, fishing and small trade for their livelihoods. Many families buy goats, cows and hens in the village, which they sell at local markets. Local hen rearing is common, with hens sold to market vendors on market day. Some families have small kiosks in the village selling fish. While others are involved in door-to-door selling of second hand clothes and sandals made of used tyres.
All of this activity has been suspended due to the COVID-19 lock down, and families are no longer able to earn an income. Markets are closed and fishing is not permitted. People who had small businesses have now used all their capital, and so even when the restrictions are lifted, they do not have the resources to resume trading. Families are quite literally facing starvation. As it was described by a community leader, “their survival is a blessing day after a day”.
He continued, “one man tried to kill him self with his family as pressure for food by the family mounted. They were rescued by a neighbor who saw them closing the house and asking a wife for a match book because the one he was with had got wet by the petrol he poured on himself and family awaiting lighting fire.”
This is trying time for everyone, but if you are in a position to help, please consider a donation of any size. All funds raised will go directly to the community for the purchase of food (posh, a type of cereal, and beans), soap, salt and seeds for planting (maize and beans). AU$100 would cover the cost of food and essentials for a family for a month.
You will be quite literally saving lives.
The 76 families (just over 150 adults and over 300 children) include Jewish (Abayudaya), Christian and Muslim families living harmoniously together. Several of the families are headed by women who have been widowed or divorced, and are particularly vulnerable.
The community relies on farming, fishing and small trade for their livelihoods. Many families buy goats, cows and hens in the village, which they sell at local markets. Local hen rearing is common, with hens sold to market vendors on market day. Some families have small kiosks in the village selling fish. While others are involved in door-to-door selling of second hand clothes and sandals made of used tyres.
All of this activity has been suspended due to the COVID-19 lock down, and families are no longer able to earn an income. Markets are closed and fishing is not permitted. People who had small businesses have now used all their capital, and so even when the restrictions are lifted, they do not have the resources to resume trading. Families are quite literally facing starvation. As it was described by a community leader, “their survival is a blessing day after a day”.
He continued, “one man tried to kill him self with his family as pressure for food by the family mounted. They were rescued by a neighbor who saw them closing the house and asking a wife for a match book because the one he was with had got wet by the petrol he poured on himself and family awaiting lighting fire.”
This is trying time for everyone, but if you are in a position to help, please consider a donation of any size. All funds raised will go directly to the community for the purchase of food (posh, a type of cereal, and beans), soap, salt and seeds for planting (maize and beans). AU$100 would cover the cost of food and essentials for a family for a month.
You will be quite literally saving lives.
Organizer
Zara Sarzin Perlman
Organizer
Elsternwick VIC
