COVID-19 has made it to the Warm Heart of Africa. If projections are correct, it could be devastating for Malawi, a tiny country that is densely populated with over 18 million people living in close proximity to each other. There is limited access to soap, hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment, and everything else that is needed to protect oneself again the novel coronavirus.
This coupled with limited access to accurate information and limited avenues for communication, could make the spread of COVID-19 extraordinary deadly in Malawi. Together! ACT Now has a plan to combat the spread of COVID-19, based on our eleven years of experience in HIV prevention. We need your help raising $10,000.
How will we do this?
Spread Accurate Information. Misinformation can be deadly. We will have a multiple prong approach to ending the spread of misinformation. Our approach will include:
Songs. We will create educational songs on stopping the spread of Malawi. We will work to spread these songs in villages via megaphones in trucks and radio.
Children’s book. We are working to write a children’s book on COVID-19 that will be dispersed among our villages to really illustrate what families can do to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Pamphlets. We will provide pamphlets via village chiefs and elders that can be distributed within villages.
Personal Protective Equipment and Soap. There is a lack of access to personal protective equipment and soap and water.
Masks. We will be working with villages to provide chiefs and elders with hundreds of locally made masks to be provided to their community members who need them.
Hand washing stations. We will build "Tippy-Tap" hands free soap and water stations in villages.
Let's break it down:
Writing Original COVID-19 Songs
We are creating original songs, both in Malawi and in partnership with an award winning singer and #1 hit artist from the 1960's, turned doctor (you read that right!).
These songs will be played for the community both via radio and loud speaker in the back of a truck, which is a standard way to communicate messages in Malawi.
Listen to a rehearsal track:
COST: $50 to record a song $28 per day to broadcast this music across the district
Write a COVID-19 Children's Book
Our executive Director, Kyle Horne, was the lead author on a COVID-19 children's books, which was just released today by a top 5 pediatric hospital in America. He is taking that knowledge and creating an entirely new book for use in Malawi that will be co-authored by him, an MD, and our Malawi Country Director.
This book will be printed and provided for free to children across Malawi in Chichewa.
COST: 90 cents per book
Providing Reusable Face Masks
T!AN will provide reusable face masks for all of our volunteers in Malawi. These volunteers are going into villages to educate their country. They need protection.
We will also be purchasing masks for at-risk villagers.
COST: $1 per locally tailored reusable mask
Hand Washing Stations
We will be providing large water washing stations, as well as building Tippy Tap stations. These are a DIY hands free washing station in villages.
We will also be supplying villages with a 6 months supply of soap.
COST: $20 per hand washing station
If you can donate, do so for those who can't right now. Your donation will save lives.
Donate Now
Do you normally take the standard deduction on your taxes? In 2020, thanks to the CARES Act, you can now deduct up to $300 in donations on top of your standard deduction!