Covid-19 and the impact on our projects

Covid-19 currently has a grip on the world. Not only does Covid-19 affect people’s daily life in the Netherlands, but also in the countries that we support in Africa. We would like to inform you that we are doing everything in our power to keep our employees, kids, mothers, and volunteers safe and healthy.

Sadly, there will be financial consequences for every entrepreneur in the Netherlands. For us, a charity which entirely depends on the willingness to give from third parties, this is no different.  Planned actions and fundraising events are canceled or have been postponed until later this year.

Naturally, this reflects directly on our projects, and with a big impact. From this week on, all the schools and Orange Babies projects in South-Africa, Namibia and Zambia have been partially closed down. There is a ban on gatherings with more than 50 people. Regarding food and therapy adherence, children depend on our projects. We are currently searching for the best way to keep our support going.

Bregtje Lemkes, a doctor at the AMC hospital, is a member of our advisory board. She is specialised in Infectious Disease and will, together with us, advise the projects on how to deal with Covid-19. Given that some projects still offer 24-hour shelter or provide the possibility to get food, this is of the essence.

INITIATIVES
During this time, beautiful creative initiatives have emerged. For instance, Orange Babies started a collaboration with Hilton Hotels called ‘Soap for Hope’. The hotels donate their used and purified soap pieces to Orange Babies, so we can recycle these into new bars of soap. These bars are given to the most vulnerable children and families within our projects. This bar of soap includes a pamphlet with information about Covid-19.

If you have any ideas or possibilities on how to support our projects, we would love to hear from you!

We wish you and your family good health, solidarity, and strength in the coming months.