First of all, we hope you are planning a nice holiday weekend that includes staying safe at home.
Many of you have expressed concern as the coronavirus becomes more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, and in Tanzania specifically. We are so appreciative of your interest and your well wishes, and we feel very lucky to have such a great group of supporters to help us through this unprecedented time.
We do not yet know the impact that this pandemic will have, or the extent of the toll it will take on Majengo – both in North America and in Tanzania. Though we are facing uncertainty and many challenges during this time, we are so grateful that while we are all separate, we have been able to come together to overcome some of the challenges before us. We wanted to give you a brief update of how we have handled some of these challenges.
Nine staff members have volunteered to stay at Majengo full-time to ensure the MCH lockdown is effective and to care for the children at a time when they are all home from school. Our nurse has also taken on the task of monitoring all 93 children for coronavirus symptoms through temperature monitoring and daily sessions with each child.
Onsite at Majengo, some of the older children have been using our sewing machine to make masks and feminine hygiene products to share with the community. Because supplies are hard to find, especially personal protective equipment (PPE), we are able to use a pattern modelled after a surgical mask to help protect our nurse and staff at Majengo, as well as members of the community.
The management staff at Majengo has also worked closely with the North American Program Director and several health care professionals in North America and Tanzania to develop and implement robust measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to MCH. Dr. Reed Shnider in Maryland and Amy Burt, RN, in Toronto have been fielding our questions and providing resources to us daily to ensure we have not missed any key strategies and that we have the most up-to-date information. Their support has been invaluable.
With all the uncertainty right now, we are fortunate to have such a strong and caring Majengo community. The more we support each other with kindness and compassion, the stronger we will be together.
We are working towards not only supporting the children living at Majengo, but also the children and families in the broader community who have even less access to health care and quality supplies to stay safe. Our overall aim is to ensure that none of our current programs lose funding. Please see below for an update about the Stay In, Reach Out program that we launched last week.
We are in this together, and we certainly could not do it without you.
With best wishes from all of us at,
Majengo Canada, Warren Majengo Foundation &
Majengo Children’s Home
