Cholera January 2018 Cancel Title is required

This is the information we’ve received from our Director in Zambia fromJanuary 3 – 8, 2018.  If necessary, we’ll add DATED updates to the thread as they are received:

While not entirely uncommon for Zambia and other parts of Southern Africa this time of year, this Cholera outbreak has proven more challenging as the communities where we work in Lusaka have seen the greatest number of cases particularly within Kanyama, a very densely populated community lacking in basic sanitary services.  While markets and other shops have closed in these areas, business in the other parts of Lusaka remain open. 

The Government of Zambia is spearheading work to contain the outbreak. Some of the measures they have taken are:

Restricting public gatherings of no more than 5 people remains in effect. 

Maintaining curfews in central Lusaka from 6:00 pm through 6:00 am to minimize movement while city workers focus on sanitation efforts

Providing tanks of clean water for community consumption

Instructing all cholera patients to be handled by specialized, government commissioned personnel and locations only

All other medical posts (CI clinics included) are required to send people suspected of cholera straight to these government-commissioned centers

Have launched a public information campaign through government controlled media

Will be providing cholera vaccines through a partnership with the US Embassy

Schools remain closed by government order until January 30 and the situation will be reviewed again at that time

In adherence with government recommendations to reduce the spread of cholera, our Lusaka agency has determined it best to suspend scheduled program activities, which includes distributing Quarterly Extra Gift distribution ($50-$99.99), DP's, Extra Gifts ($100+), delivery and collection of letters, photos, etc.  All children who have an EG, DP or sponsor letter in the works, will receive them (or may have already), but the follow-up/reply letter, may be delayed depending on how long the government mandates are in place and when the kids received their EG/DP/letter (before or after the outbreak).

We have staff in place at our Community Centers to direct families to the government cholera treatment posts.  Once the locations for vaccine distributions are announced, we will ensure our staff are informed and can direct families accordingly.  Key agency staff are working from our Central Office and are in contact with our volunteers to continually monitor the situation and direct families to services as needed.

At present, our plan is to resume community activities next Monday, 15 January 2018 after government sanitation activities have completed.  We will continue our focus on educating families regarding good hygiene practices to prevent cholera.

Thank you for sharing this information with sponsors. When you say " our plan is to resume community service activities next Monday 1-15-2018" does that mean the distribution of EGs, letters, DPs, ect will also resume at this time?  I hope CI will let everyone, especially the sponsors of children in Zambia, know when this happens.

When the community centers re-open, we hope to resume all normal activities.  This includes scheduled program activities, sponsorship relations activities (letters/photos), gift distribution etc.

Of course we will work according to any government guidelines or regulations with respect to movement within the communities and congregation of people.

It is hard to predict what the situation will be, but we will be sure to keep you updated.

The good news today is that a broad cholera vaccination project is currently underway. Today, the Zambian government has officially started the immunization of the oral cholera vaccine in the areas of Lusaka most affected.  About 2 million people are expected to be vaccinated in the coming days. Our communities in Kanyama, Chibolya and George will all be included (as they are considered highly impacted areas), so all of our families will receive this vaccine.

At this point, although we hope to re-open, we are still unsure whether we will begin operations again in our centers next Monday.  The cholera vaccine typically takes about 10 days to be effective. Though our sponsored families will have received the cholera vaccine, most of our staff will not receive it as they don’t live in the most affected areas. Much depends on the status of the outbreak at that time and government policy.  As always, the safety of our families and staff will be considered a priority. We will share updates as we know more.

Thank you for keeping us informed!!

I'm surprised that the CI staff in Zambia has not been given any vaccinations, especially since they work directly with families from the most affected areas and have programs there that involve the preparation, serving, and distribution of food. Regardless of who is paying for them, this seems like a health concern for CI that should be addressed before the community centers resume operations. 
 

Thanks. Can you tell us if there have been cholera cases or deaths among the sponsored families? How are they coping financially? Most of the families are street vendors, and this activity has now been banned.

Due to the restrictions in place by the government, the communication between our families and staff is very limited. I'm sorry to say, at this time, we don't have any details about affected CI families.

Will a fund be started to cover the cost of vaccines for the CI staff?  I don't sponsor any Zambian children, but I would contribute to that fund to help ensure the safety of the invaluable people who work at the CI centers.

I read that on Friday residents of the Kanyama slum rioted in protest over the curfew and the ban on street vending.  Official reports stated the army had stepped in after rioters destroyed property, looted nearby stores, smashed window panes at a local police station and set one motor vehicle on fire.  Fifty five people were arrested. I think, without a source of income they can't be doing well financially and this is what happens when people get desperate and scared. I hope this ban ends soon.   

The very good news is that public schools are to reopen on 23 January, while private schools will be free to open from 16 January if they pass health inspections, says the Zambian Minister of Health. Apparently some local markets will be re-starting activities today after being certified by health inspectors.

barbmc, my source is this Lusaka Times article: https://www.lusakatimes.com/2018/01/14/public-schools-reopen-23rd-january/. The expression used is "free to open". Only public, private and international schools are mentioned. Of course the schools and markets first need to pass a health check, so there is a "but".

That's great to know. I hope CI will also be able to open soon and get back to business as usual!  Then sponsors can know how their sponsored children and their families are doing. Not knowing is hard!

Hi everyone - The latest update as of today is that the Community Centers have reopened and staff is there. Health and hygiene measures have been enhanced. The staff ​is still restricted to the Centers and cannot travel out into the communities. Program activities have not started due to the risk of cross infection and the government policy prohibiting the congregation of more than 5 people at a time.

For now the mass inoculation activities for the Cholera vaccine have finished.The vaccines are not available on the open market. The government is procuring them through the WHO and there is quite a waiting list for additional vaccines. A few are still available at designated clinics, and we are encouraging our staff and families to access the vaccines from there.

Glad the community centers have reopened. But will you please explain exactly what this means for sponsors. To me it sounds like no letters or EGs of any kind can be delivered to the children/youth at present?  It also sounds as if there will be no letters, yearly photos, updated information,ect about their child sent to sponsors. I'm not blaming CI, just want some answers. If nothing can get to or from the families then sending an EG or expecting information about them won't be happening for awhile yet?

Although the Community Centers were able to reopen today, the staff's focus, as mentioned by RebekahW and ramfam, is on health, and insuring that all our staff and families are vaccinated, have treatment for illnesses and have safe water and sanitation facilities. 

Since the government still has a ban on groups of 5 or more, which will probably be in place for the next week or so, Sponsor Relation activities at the community centers, such as collecting letters, photos, processing EG/DP's, etc. are on hold for the present. 

So, yes there will continue to be a delay on those things that sponsors receive from the program.  We appreciate everyone's patience. 

 Thank You Debbies: Actually, I was more concerned about the children and their families not  being able to receive help from their sponsors, especially because of the ban on street vending.  Hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.  Would you suggest that sponsors hold off on sending EGs, letters, DPs, inquires, ect?

UPDATE:  It's fine to continue sending EG's and letters. Just be aware there most definitely will be a delay in getting the EG's to the families (we have to be able to access the families and vendors first), as well as receiving the follow-up/response. 

DP's are discouraged for now, because our staff cannot travel to the community centers to deliver the packages, and the central office is not large enough to store DP's until they can be delivered. 

We are not sending any inquiries at this time, since we have no access to the vendors and families to gather the information. 

Again, we appreciate your patience, and hopefully things will get back to normal fast. 

Just a quick update on sending EG (extra gifts) for the families:

To give the Zambian staff the opportunity to get the over 300 memos' already in their office processed, they have asked that only gifts of EG's of $50-$99.99 be given at this time. 

These gifts will be transferred to their office in mid-March, with distribution to begin in late March and early April. Gifts transferred on a quarterly basis provide the family with food, toiletries and/or hygiene products depending on the amount of the donation. 

By sending these EG's in March it gives our staff time to restore a normal routine at the centers, get caught up on current outstanding memos, child letters, photos, etc. and re-establish program activities. 

Again, thank you for your understanding and patience...I know we've been saying that a lot lately, but we mean it and do appreciate you!


  

Wow! My child lives in Kanyama, and I just found out (rather randomly) about this cholera outbreak. I need to come here more often, so I can stay better in the loop. I've been meaning for a couple of weeks now to get a ShopZed order sent to my girl, but have been waiting for someone to pay me back for something so I will have the funds. Now, I'm glad I never got the money, since ShopZed orders obviously can't be delivered at this time.

Once business is back to more-normal, is ShopZed a good option for helping out our struggling families? Distribution/writing reports still places pressure on the staff, but the gift would not require a time-consuming shopping trip. Let us know yay or nay. I'm worried about my family not having enough to eat!  

I want to send my kids a SHOPZED package as soon as I can as well. I hope it will be ok! I want to help them get food so they don't go hungry. 

I have questions that I'm hoping CI can answer. Are the schools  that our children attend open and functioning today?  Have all the sponsored children received their school supplies? How will this affect my sponsored youth regarding his private tutoring? 

At this time, the staff at the central office (where the ShopZed orders are delivered) is not able to travel to the SAC's, and we don't know when this might change.  But we'll let you know. 

We have not heard if school began today in our communities. But our latest update from the SOA shared the following:

The community centers were able to open asplanned on Monday, January 15. However, activities were centered mainly onensuring that health and hygiene measures are enhanced and put in place at all SACs.

Beginning Monday, January 22,  2018,the centers will be opened to sponsored families, but with restrictions on thenumber of people to attend at any particular time. Most work associated withpending activities e.g. Memos, Extra Gifts, Letters, etc. will take some additional time.

Activities like gift distributions (which require a lot people to come to the center)will be on hold till the compounds are completely declared free of theepidemic.

SAC Coordinators have been tasked toensure that all the sponsored children and youth who are attending, do complywith the preventive measures put in place at the centers.

Theareas that originally were the epicenters of the outbreak have slowly beenrecording fewer cases.

However,the outbreak has been evolving, and there is a surge in areas thatpreviously had not beenhotspots for cholera, now being the epicenters. The government continues toimplement measures to control the situation.

Markets and businesses aregradually opening up again and business is going on, under the government regulation.  The governmentcontinues to carry out targeted sanitation measures.

I wish we could give you information about specific children, but at this time things are moving slowly with the obvious emphasis being on health and sanitation.  We'll share more as we receive information. 

Thank you for sharing information with MSC as quickly as you can.  I also wondered if CIKC was notifying the sponsors of children/youth in Zambia about the delays and temporary restrictions regarding EGs, DPs,letters, ect. Kind of like a heads up so they know what to expect and what not to send. Most sponsors are not on MSC and are likely unaware of the changes.   Between cholera in Zambia and volcanoes in the Philippines 2018 has not been a good year for CI. I'll try to have more patience.

barbmc- We are currently reaching out to sponsor's with in-progress EG, inquiries, DPs, etc to inform them of the delay. Whenever a sponsor reaches out to Care Team to start one of the above mentioned tasks, we're sharing the expectation of a delay. We're not sending a notification to all Lusaka sponsors, because most will be notified in one of these two ways and it's our hope that slowing but surely CI Zambia will be back to normal.

General Situation:

Some schools were opened as planned this week. However, schools in the epicenters did not open, as most of them do not meet the required sanitary conditions. The public health team under the Ministry of health has advised that it is not yet safe for the schools to reopen. This includes our 3 Community Center areas.

The government has not rescinded the policy of not permitting the congregation of more than 5 people however, exceptions are being made as some schools, bars, market places and other places that were closed are slowly being opened.

Our operations:

Health Inspectors have so far only been to George.  The inspectors are very restrictive on any activities in that area and are ensuring that sanitary conditions are met before any operations resume. Based on the Inspectors’ recommendations, additional preventative measures are being implemented.

Chibolya and Kanyama are yet to be visited by Health Inspectors; arrangements are underway.

Projected plans for this week and next at the centers:

Food handlers assessment and testing

Health inspection for Kanyama and Chibolya

Continued implementation of the preventive measures at the Community Centers (spraying, hand sanitizers, chlorine, scaling up of the general cleaning)

Health education talks to all staff about prevention.

Gradually increase activity at the centers with regard to Sponsor Relation activities.