While the global pandemic impacted communities across the globe, the EWB-USA Central Houston Professional Chapter took action to assist during this pandemic.
Below are the summary of the ways EWB-USA Central Houston Professional Chapter attempted to help.
EWB-USA National Effort Support
EWB-USA was working to establish a low cost means to get temperature testing for fevers. EWB-USA Central Houston Professional Chapter member, Terry Applegate, proposed the use of 3D-printed LCD strip thermometers.
This idea was pursued by EWB-USA with 3,000 thermometers purchased with targeted deployment in Nicaragua and Guatamala.
Kenya Program Support
Kenya, like many other countries worldwide, responded to and experienced the COVID-19 pandemic through a number of ways including nightly curfews, school closures, increasing unemployment rates, and social unrest leading to an increase in crime and violence. In-country NGO partner Brighter Communities Worldwide (BCW) started several initiatives within the region in and around our partner community Kimaut in response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
Primary among these was the distribution of bars of soap and closed-lid buckets with spigots for use in handwashing, in which greater 30,000 households were reached. Secondary to their work was the spread of information, in the form of flyers and banners posted around communities with the help of ~900 volunteers, regarding proper hygiene practices to put into practice to fight the virus. The last of the major initiatives BCW took within communities to combat COVID-19, in addition to rising unemployment rates, was the commissioning of work projects for youth, including mask-making, construction of latrines and washrooms among the variety of activities.
The Kimaut project team partnered with BCW to help in this function. Funds donated to the Kimaut Water Project during summer 2020 were re-directed to Brighter Communities Worldwide to assist in their efforts.
Peru Program Support
In collaboration with the Detroit, Kansas City, San Diego, Sonoma, and Springfield Professional Chapters a COVID-19 Relief Fund was established in partnership with NGO Amazon Promise.
Amazon Promise is a non-profit organization based in Iquitos, Peru that is focused on providing medical assistance to remote populations in the surrounding area. EWB-USA has had a strong relationship with Amazon Promise since 2013 and in that time Amazon Promise has helped our chapter bring clean water and hygienic practices information to numerous villages. The same people who have made our projects possible were in need of our help.
Their need for assistance was urgent as their own staff were struggling to stay afloat. In the Loreto region a $35 donation can feed a family for two weeks. Together we fought against the pandemic and endeavor to continue building a better world.
South Africa Program Support
South Africa, like most of the world, was impacted by the pandemic. GirlStuff was a program established via My Arms Wide Open and Manzimvula focused on the production of low cost or free washable and reusable menstrual kits providing over 8,500+ girls with menstrual kits while also seeing an increase in girls in Bergnek continuing school through 8th grade while creating a business employing 8 women in the community.
To respond to COVID-19, they shifted manufacturing efforts to the making of face masks to help during the pandemic. The chapter supported this program and the manufacturing of masks for the Berngek community via donations to My Arms Wide Open directly.