11 June 2020
TPC Ltd, Alteo’s sugar factory in Tanzania, has been very active with regards to community engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic through the FT Kilimanjaro (FTK) NGO. FTK recently launched several activities in collaboration with TPC and local authorities. As a result, FTK distributed 76 hand washing buckets, 210 facial masks as well as 8 boxes of surgical masks to the communities such as home-based care providers, village administrations, police stations, ward offices and local dispensaries. Moreover, a total of 5690 posters, 2805 flyers, and 700 T-shirts explaining the importance of social distancing were also printed and dispatched by FTK to the local villagers. A vehicle equipped with speakers has also been driving around the villages with Corona prevention messages.
In an effort to support local entrepreneurs, FTK has also been working with Upendo Msengi, a female entrepreneur from Mikocheni village, who makes bar soaps and liquid soap. This will be bought by the NGO to be distributed to local neighbourhoods. The NGO is also looking at a partnership with a local company to produce sanitizer dispensers to be distributed to clinics, local government offices and public places.
In anticipation of food insecurity to happen in a couple of months, FTK in collaboration with TPC and Mtakuja Development Organisation have identified 26 acres of land for the cultivation of maize. Over 260 kg of maize seeds have already been purchased and are to be planted soon.
This coronavirus pandemic has also been affecting the social life of children who can no longer attend schools since their closure for sanitary precautions. To better explain what Covid-19 is to children and why it is affecting their life, FTK got in touch with Mieke Linssen and Alberdine Van Hulsbeek who wrote a children’s book: Aisha and Moses strong against Coronavirus. This book has been translated to English, Kiswahili and Dutch. Some 200 booklets were printed and distributed to groups of children in the local community. It is expected that printed versions will be distributed to schools as soon as they will open.
To download the book: https://www.aishaandfriends.com/projects
About FT Kilimanjaro:
FTK works mainly for communities based near the TPC estate and in the surrounding villages and the Lower Moshi region. FTK and its founders envision flourishing communities in Lower Moshi void of poverty and despair: Communities where all, men and women, young and old, have access to basic health care, education and opportunities to be productive and earn a livelihood for themselves and their families, and to do so in a self-sustaining and environmentally sustainable manner.
