CORPSAFRICA
  • Home
  • About
    • About us >
      • The Model
      • Human-Centered Design
      • Impact
      • Development Partners
      • Junior CorpsAfrica
    • Team >
      • Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Council
    • Work With Us
    • Press
    • Videos
    • Testimonials
    • Contact us
  • Countries
    • Morocco
    • Senegal
    • Malawi
    • Rwanda
    • Ghana
    • Kenya
  • Volunteers
    • Meet the Volunteers >
      • Morocco Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Morocco
        • Group 2 Morocco
        • Group 3 Morocco
        • Group 4 Morocco
        • Group 5 Morocco
        • Group 6 Morocco
      • Malawi Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Malawi
        • Group 2 Malawi
        • Group 3 Malawi
        • Group 4 Malawi
        • Group 5 Malawi
        • Group 6 Malawi
      • Senegal Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Senegal
        • Group 2 Senegal
        • Group 3 Senegal
        • Group 4 Senegal
        • Group 5 Senegal
        • Group 6 Senegal
      • Rwanda Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Rwanda
        • Group 2 Rwanda
        • Group 3 Rwanda
    • Podcast - "My CorpsAfrica Story"
    • Featured Projects >
      • Dzaleka Basketball Court
      • Kitchen Gardens
      • Coronavirus Response
    • Featured Volunteers
    • Alumni Association
    • Apply
  • Events
    • Events >
      • PROJECTing Resilience
    • All Country Conference
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Donate to CorpsAfrica
    • Pay It Forward Campaign
    • Holbrooke Campaign
    • Corporate Council for CorpsAfrica
    • Planned Giving
    • Amazon Smile

ONE HAND CAN PULL TEN BUT TWO HANDS CAN PULL TWENTY

4/19/2020

0 Comments

 
Written By Corpsafrica/Malawi Volunteer Eliza Chanika
 
Coronavirus has hit the world with approximately millions of people infected, thousands dead and hundreds of new cases daily. People are living in fear with schools, markets and churches closed. Mobility is restricted unless you are in the category of those permitted, like health workers, fire fighters or the police. People are desperate, scared and afraid of the virus. Just few days ago, the President of Malawi issued a 21-day lockdown to try to control the spread and maybe it will not hit Malawi hard. Markets now are busy places with everyone running up and down trying to get enough food for his family in preparation for the lockdown coming in few days.

The virus has indeed disturbed our daily routines and soon it will shake our economy. My community is among the affected. Every now and then I see people running up and down, discussing the virus, sharing their fears, worries and concerns. One day, as I was seated under the mango tree, one of the students I was teaching at the local community day secondary school passed by. We had a conversation and it was like this:

"Will schools open again? Will we be able to play football again and engage in our club ?" 
"Yes soon, as long as we control the spread maybe the cure will be known soon."

He is not the first nor the last to ask questions about the virus and I believe his questions were from deep down.
"How can we keep our community safe? What can we do to reduce the spread?" A young  lady spoke up,commenting on the conversation we were having. "We can do something as a community, we can change things." She proposed that we meet. 

That was the beginning of the Girl's Club. We established the club to help our community to raise awareness on the information of the virus. We decided to take an initiative and do a door-to-door awareness campaign. Asking people to keep social distance and avoid crowded places, to always wash their hands with soap or ashes and always stay safe. Encouraging good sanitation and hygiene wherever they go. Now my community has adopted the new culture to fight against the  virus. The prevention guidelines are now songs in my community, day in and day out.
​
In addition to that, as a club we also tackle issues that affect our daily lives as girls. How to achieve academic excellence, career guidance, entrepreneurship, sexual reproduction including HIV and AIDS, proper morals in relation to our culture,  and we also do special games to keep our bodies in good physical shape.

We are in our community and as a girls club we will continue to stand against the virus. I must say indeed one hand can pull ten but two hands can pull twenty. My community is being pulled out by the decisions made by a few and we will continue to fight against the virus till the end.
Picture
Some members of Girl's Club holding placards for COVID-19 awareness campaign.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Support
    Welcome
    ​to the CorpsAfrica Volunteer Blog! 
    Get an inside look at the experiences of CorpsAfrica Volunteers in the field.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Picture