By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The charity Action Against Hunger, also known by its French acronym, ACF, is currently rolling out a project that is aimed at supporting 320 quarantine homes in the Western Area and Moyamba districts. The project is part of the organization’s Emergency COVID-19 response which is funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
On Monday ACF donated essential items to 10 homes in the Western Area Urban. The homes were located in areas like Low Cost, New England and Fire Force - Circular Road.
The materials donated to each household included beans, rice, sugar, soap, oil, sardine, sachets of water, rubber buckets and other essential items.
Communication and Advocacy Officer at ACF, Alfred Sinnah, told Politico that the distribution is a way of supporting the people at a “very difficult time.”
“As an organization that is focused on ending world hunger, we thought it fit that this is one of the best ways we can support these quarantine homes, because we know during this time they go through a lot of constraints to get food and other essential items,” Sinnah said.
The Head of Project for Food Security and Livelihood at ACF, David Sondason Kamara, told Politico that they were doing the distribution in collaboration with District COVID-19 response teams, which have identified quarantine homes and provided them a list.
ACF officials and officials from the quarantine pillar of the National Covid-19 Emergency Operation Center (NACOVERC) and the district teams were in the field, coordinating the distribution exercise.
“We know we can’t provide everything, but we know these essential things will help them a lot. We are working closely with NACOVERC and DICOVERC to coordinate these efforts. They provide us with a list and we visit the locations and donate the items,” Kamara explained.
Residents at a quarantine home at the back of Fire Force, Circular Road, thanked ACF. They said they had been in quarantined for 18 days and this was the third of such donation they were getting from anyone.
“We want to thank you for thinking about us. This is the third donation we have had, since we went in to quarantine last month. This will probably last us the next three days,” a resident who preferred anonymity said.
The project is designed to benefit 160 homes in the Western Urban and Rural, and 160 more in Moyamba.
ACF’s funding from SIDA has also enabled it donate Infection Prevention Control materials to Public Health Units and clinics in the three districts.
Psychosocial support and social mobilization is also part of their broader programme under the COVID-19 response.
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