COVID-19: Moving to remote support in Lesotho and Botswana
Sentebale’s work has been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and, as in many parts of the world, the speed of change has been shocking. First came frightening news reports, and then came lockdowns. The governments of Botswana and Lesotho took drastic measures in the form of a State of Public Emergency in March before announcing a lockdown in early April to protect the population against the virus.
Our concern throughout this pandemic has been to support the well-being and welfare of the children and young people we work with and to ensure our staff and volunteers remain healthy and well protected.
With this in mind, Sentebale took measures to suspend all club and camp activities and adapt our programmes by supporting young people remotely and working with healthcare workers deployed across communities.
Sentebale staff continued communicating with health clinics who usually support the children and young people with access to three-month supply of antiretroviral (ARV) medication.
With children and young people living with HIV unable to access their treasured monthly clubs, during which time they get to play, talk and share, Sentebale decided to continue providing this support, remotely, by reaching out to the little clubbers via phone.
Read how Sentebale went mobile, here.
