With new cases of the COVID-19 being reported daily by Cameroon’s Minister of Health Dr. Manaouda Malachie, with a most recent case reported in the nearby town of Limbe, the NDES FOUNDATION couldn’t not sit back and wait until the virus hits Buea before reacting. Proactively, the foundation set out to hand Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) materials comprising of Cartons of Soap and adapted 80-litres hand-wash buckets with tap outlets to some three orphanages and the Bulu Blind Center in Buea.
The move is a preventive measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 to these orphanages and Blind center. The absence of running water or taps in these orphanages force the kids to trek miles on a daily basis to fetch water from far away stream thereby violating government and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to limit movements and stay at home which exposes the kids to risk of contracting the disease. The situation is further compounded by the fact that these orphanages are crowded with no chance of implementing any real social distancing habits.
It is against this backdrop that on Sunday the 29th of March 2020, the foundation handed out these donations to four institutions for the underprivileged being the; Teleola Martha Foundation Orphanage, St. Glory Orphanage, the Mountain Kids orphanage and the Rehabilitation Institute for the Blind (commonly known as the Bulu Blind Center) in the Buea municipality. While receiving the donations, the proprietress of each orphanage could not hide their joy at this timely gesture. The kids were visibly elated and were keen at observing a demonstration on how the buckets are to be used. Mrs Toge Rachel of the St. Glory Orphanage expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the NDES FOUNDATION for continually coming to their assistance. She explained that with the 80-litres bucket her kids will no longer have to trek on a daily basis to the Campus of the University of Buea to fetch water as more water will be stored in the buckets. With the carton of soap, she pledged to inculcate good hand washing habits in the kids which will go a long way to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. The Director the Bulu Blind Center, Mr. Godfred Anutemeh on his part expressed his joy on behalf of the blind trainees and urged the NDES FOUNDATION to keep up with the excellent work.
On behalf of the foundation, the Vice Secretary Miss Gillian Yenla expressed the need for communities to be resilient in solidary. She reiterated that even though the COVID-19 has impacted the foundation negatively, especially with regards to its primary donor base who are mostly members and well-wishers in the diaspora, the foundation remains steadfast to its commitments to the underprivileged. Even with the limited funds, the foundation aims to reach out to more orphanages and institutions for the disabled in the fight against COVID-19 and calls on all to join on board as we all strive to flatten the COVID-19 curve. She called on all to respect health guidelines of hand sanitization and social distancing reemphasizing the need to stay at home as much as possible.
We all can be part of the solution. Support the NDES Foundation at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/keep-200-orphans-in-cameroon-safe-from-covid-19/ in donating soap and hand-washing buckets to 200 orphans in Cameroon.
