A local non-governmental organisation Rozaria Memorial Trust has taken the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) to rural communities amid concerns that information on the deadly virus has not cascaded to the countryside.
There has been a lot of concern over access to information by rural folks during this time as most of them have little or no access to social media, which has been the most effective tool to disseminate information.
The Trust’s Chief Executive, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda last week said her Murehwa based organization is working flat out with community leaders and caregivers to provide adequate information on the novel coronavirus in vernacular languages as well as busting several myths surrounding the virus.
“As an organization, we are deeply involved I the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. We have embarked on a strong work in collaboration with District coordination mechanism and the Ministry of Health and Childcare at the district level working closely with the village herds and village health workers at the local clinics in our areas to essentially make information available in local languages.
“For us that is very important because there is misinformation, under information, there is conflicting information and there are so many myths about the coronavirus in our community for us to prevent we need correct information,” said Gumbonzvanda.
“we are emphasizing hygiene and as a trust we have produced over 300liters of hand sanitizers, which we are working together with the Ministry of Health to distribute to the clinics, to make available to the village health workers and herdsmen and also for use during funeral,” said Gumbonzvanda.
She said as of last week, they had also produced tips for funerals and for those who use boreholes to stay safe.
The AU Ambassador on Ending Child Marriages, Gumbonzvanda said there is need to look at COVID-19 with children at the forefront.
