Hygiene and sanitation kits distributed to vulnerable families to help them prevent COVID-19
To support communities to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures including wearing face masks in public spaces and washing hands often with clean water and soap, on 18th June 2020, ActionAid Rwanda (AAR) in partnership with Faith Victory Association (FVA) supported communities in Mukingo, Rwabicuma and Busasamana Sectors of Nyanza District, as well as Murundi and Gitesi Sectors of Karongi District with handwashing facilities, soap, face masks and sanitary pads. This activity was funded by different AAR projects including Speak Out Project funded by the UK Aid.
As part of this activity, 1,273 families from the above-mentioned districts were provided with soap (548 boxes of soap), 1,240 families supported with sanitary pads (11,560 pads), 17,650 people provided with masks (17,650 masks) and 64 women’s saving groups supported with handwashing facilities (64 handwashing facilities).
Each family received 3 bars of soap and 10 sanitary pads, while each individual was given one mask and each women’s saving group received one handwashing facility (commonly called Kandagira-Ukarabe in Kinyarwanda) that will help its members to wash hands before and during the saving group’s meetings.
With joyful faces, beneficiaries of AAR hygiene materials said that the hygiene kits will help them to fully adhere to guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We are advised to follow personal protective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the handwashing facilities, soap and face masks that we just received from ActionAid Rwanda and FVA will help members of our saving group to improve our COVID-19 prevention measures so that we and our family members can stay safe from the virus. We also appreciated that sanitary pads were included in the sanitary kits, because it is hard for some of us to afford them in this trying time,” said Nyirarukundo Alphonsine, chairperson of a 30 women’s saving group located in Mukingo sector, Nyanza District.
