[Tanzania] YEV: Responding to urgent community needs

Youth and Environment Vision (YEV), based in Mwanza in Tanzania, started working on COVID-19 awareness and provision of protective materials in March 2020 when WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic.

In the community in which we work, there are social and economic gaps; people who live in poverty cannot access good information on how to prevent themselves from various diseases and cannot afford protective materials such as masks, handwash soaps and sanitizers. Our work focuses on groups especially vulnerable to discrimination and isolation, including orphans, people with disabilities, and the elderly. They face specific barriers in accessing good information and protecting themselves from COVID-19 and other diseases.

We used Behavior Change Communication (BCC), an approach used to promote awareness and enhancing change of behaviors among beneficiaries. We focused on handwashing habits and noted its impact on protection from airborne and waterborne diseases. In addition, we distributed sanitation and protection materials. We worked with government officials as part of our project team and strived to increase their ownership of the project.

We faced and continue to face the challenge of having limited financial resources. We have reached 21,500 community members with behavior change communications and 1,650 individuals through protective materials such as masks, soaps, containers, and sanitizers. There was a financial and time cost to how government regulations on COVID-19 changed day to day; activities were often delayed or postponed early in the pandemic. Our good relationships with government officials and organs now help improve the project’s sustainability at large.

To learn more: www.yevision.org or http://www.facebook.com/yev.vision

Contact: Jonathan Kassibu, jkassibu@yevision.org