We never could have predicted COVID-19 and the state of the affairs of the world today. However, looking back from summer 2019 on and how we began to focus on clean water, health and hygiene, it is evident that God’s hand was on Addis Jemari in ways we could not have imagined.
In summer 2019, we decided to focus on clean water and health and hygiene for Giving Tuesday, which occurred in December 2019. Plans for how to get a water tanker for our Family Empowerment Center and rain barrels for each of our FEP families, as well as necessary supplies to kick-off a health and hygiene program began in the summer months. In December 2019, we pushed out this info to our donors and champions, and man, did you guys respond! We were able to purchase all the clean water initiatives and started to put them into practice in January 2020.
We also developed personal hygiene training (including proper handwashing skills) in January 2020 as well, finalizing it in February 2020. Just before COVID-19 surfaced in Ethiopia, we built out our cubbies for our new health and hygiene program, and opened our showers at the Center to some of our families for the first time. Our water tanker was filled in February 2020, also for the first time. Who knew all these initiatives we began before COVID-19 would be needed now more than ever? God is so good like that!
All the health and hygiene work that proceeded the pandemic was not a coincidence! God’s hands were on Addis Jemari, and it is such a blessing to look back and see that now. It’s wonderful to look back and see how God has been guiding us all along!
Despite the challenges we are facing as a result of COVID-19, and taking lessons from countries hard hit by the pandemic, Ethiopia is doing the best it can to handle the outbreak. Here at AJ, we are also working hard to protect our beneficiaries from the virus.
The prevention of communicable diseases, including COVID-19, is highly possible through the application of proper hygienic habits. It is imperative that we educate our beneficiaries on good habits of personal hygiene, such as handwashing, how to avoid sharing germs, and everyday cleanliness.
Addis Jemari recently began providing personal hygiene training for its Family Empowerment Program (FEP) beneficiaries. The training, which has a total of ten lessons, was designed to address the overall health and hygiene needs of families in our program. The training covers hygiene in every part of the body, including hair, face, ear, hands, and feet.
We were so grateful to get through one of the lessons on handwashing, and given the current world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, we linked the training to the specific steps of what the World Health Organization recommends keeping oneself protected. The same training was taught in our AJ Home. Although we cannot continue with another lesson from the curriculum at this time due to social distancing, we feel secure and grateful knowing we have the tools to continue to expand the knowledge of our families in the areas of health and hygiene once the pandemic passes.
Teaching skills, however, must go hand-in-hand with creating access to essential hygiene supplies. AJ has therefore distributed bar soaps to FEP families and stocked the AJ Home with enough supplies to keep them safe as well. This, in tandem with the water barrels our families received in December through the Giving Tuesday donations from our generous donors, is a huge blessing for those we serve. We’ve also put in place handwashing stations at both the FEP center and AJ Home so everyone washes hands before entering the Center and the Home.
If you’d like to help provide our FEP families and AJ Home with hygiene essentials in May and June, please visit www.addisjemari.org/donate and select the COVID-19 Relief Fund. Any amount is appreciated and will certainly go to good use!