civil society takes up civic education on usefulness of washing hands in Lamu

Save Lamu in conjunction with Shani ya Lamu have started educating Lamu residents on the dangers of covid-19.

 

Save Lamu chairman Abubakar Alamudy said that this was to fill the gap that is already being felt.

Abubakar went on to say that with their mandate on saving Diversity's, the organisation has installed several handwashing stations in Lamu. 

This touchpoint is building trust amongst the community to work with both local and national governments in helping to reduce the cases of infection of the novel coronavirus within the county.

“It is our responsibility as kenyans to work with our leadership to reduce cases of infection within the country. The government has called each one of us to follow stipulated guidelines and as Save Lamu, we have partnered with our county leadership to ensure that the message is passed to everyone. This pandemic calls for everyone to engage and ensure that we are all playing our part in defeating it.” said Abubakar Alamudy, Chairperson Save Lamu.

This mobilization has seen installations in Mokowe, Manda maweni, Matondoni, Mtangawanda, Shella, Faza. The  initiative came as a response to the gaps identified like mis- information, the need to amplify the government’s response and as a responsibility of Save Lamu to its community.  

This initiative is a follow up to Shani ya Lamu campaign that advocates for protecting the biodiversity of the island and its resources, sharing Lamu attributes and why it needs to be protected. 

“If we protect its people from COVID -19, the county will not only achieve 100 percent Covid -19 free but provide the community with resources to continue building this nation.

" Save Lamu is working to ensure that this pandemic is contained,Lamu has so much to offer beyond tourism,we have to protect each other and the Island” Is'haq Abubakar, board member of Save Lamu said.

The ongoing curfew is rapidly affecting the economy of Lamu bringing everything almost to a standstill. The rate at which goods coming in and out the County has slowed down leaving the majority of businesses at stake from agriculture to the fishing industry where fishers are experiencing big losses for not being able to export their goods to other counties which are currently on lockdown.

Lamu is celebrated for various reasons including the solid culture it has, fishing, tourism and many more that are now affected by the pandemic. These attributes are threatened as the lockdown affects, transport, fishing, movement of goods and some services that are pivotal for the island.

This campaign provides a platform for Lamu residents to participate in ensuring that proper response to COVID -19 is achieved and most importantly that the community will be well informed on how to tackle this pandemic and influence behavior change.

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