Malawi has been one of the latest African countries to report coronavirus cases, all said to have involved people returning from the UK. It is one of the the least able to fight the disease. The government has closed the schools, urged people to work from home where possible, and banned public meetings of 100 or more, and the president and ministers have taken a pay cut to fund health work. Information about the disease is available on radio and television, and online. But most of the people we work with in Mpasa have no access to modern forms of communication. And exhortations by the government to keep apart and begin rigorous hand washing mean little in a community where people live in cramped, overcrowded homes and often cannot afford soap to wash themselves and their clothes, let alone indulge in hand washing repeatedly during the day.
All of the children we support are from poor homes. MSP’s trustees and I have taken the decision that we cannot leave these families completely without help. We have initiated a modest public information campaign in the villages nearest to Mpasa, and we have provided funds for the chiefs to distribute soap to the poorest of families, together with an information leaflet produced by the secondary school. So far 150 families have been helped in this way. Distribution to the poorest of the children at the secondary school will begin tomorrow.
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| Soap paid for by MSP |
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| Awaiting distribution |
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| The chief of Timu village distributing soap |
