Covid-19: HI assists people with disabilities in Kakuma refugee camp
People with disabilities living in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is raising their awareness of preventive measures to help protect them from the disease and allow them to continue working.
Aruwa, 6 years old, benefits from COVID-19 prevention training. | © HI
Ahmed is 54. He is married and has nine children. He has been living in Kakuma in a sheet-iron house with an earthen floor for more than a decade. He has post-polio paralysis. His small shop allows him to earn his livelihood and feed his family.
Ahmed has been assisted by HI since he arrived in the camp. Our teams pay him regular visits to help him improve his business skills and prosper. The organisation has also provided him with crutches to move around.
Since the start of the pandemic, HI has explained to Ahmed the importance of taking preventive measures against Covid-19. Since then, he wears a mask, tells his customers to maintain a social distance, and invites them to wash their hands before entering his shop.
"HI has provided me with information on the Covid-19 pandemic. This information is really important because it helps protect us against the virus,"
he explains.
As medicines are lacking in the camp and there is currently no cure for the virus, he understands how important it is to apply these measures. This is why he and his family wear masks whenever they are out in public.
Ahmed would like to continue being assisted and supported financially by HI to better weather the pandemic which has affected his trade.
"It will take time for me to get back to a normal life and start making money again,"
he says.
When the situation improves, he hopes to set up other small shops in the camp.
