“I’m going mad locked inside”, we hear you say! I’m being a good responsible citizen, but when can I get outside? And when can I travel again?
Around the world over 20% of all people are currently in lockdown, with over 100 countries imposing full or partial restrictions on its population. Borders are closed, planes are grounded, venues are empty and people are in their homes.
Some countries have instituted some unusual policies to restrict the spread of Covid-19. In Colombia the days that you’re allowed to leave the house depend on the number of your national ID card; in Serbia a designated dog-walking hour was introduced; and in Belarus the president is recommending vodka and saunas as a way to stay safe, against all medical advice!
At Kaya locations, all our participants have returned home and most of our local teams are at home on lockdown. But there is still important work that has to be done. These are just a few of the many stories from our ground teams at the moment;
- At our wildlife sanctuaries, staff are working around the clock to make sure the animals are fed and their enclosures cleaned.
- In eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) the children who usually attend our National Care Points and rely on their daily meal as part of the feeding program are receiving packages, dropped off at their doors by diligent project workers.
- In the Philippines, our teams are distributing donated medical supplies, like masks and gloves, to rural health clinics and hospitals.
- In Ecuador, our projects who usually support children undergoing cancer treatments have provided their offices and beds to health workers who can’t return home after working with Covid patients.
- In Ghana, our teams have been setting up handwashing stations within the communities where we would usually carry out education programs.
With everyone working so hard to keep the most important wheels turning, they are looking forward to welcoming back the volunteers as soon as it is safe for everyone again.
When will that be?
That is the million-dollar question! Right now no-one can answer that with any degree of certainty, which makes everything so hard to plan.
All we can do is be ready when that time comes. So start your planning now. Our teams are already thinking ahead, and they know that by the end of this year they will have a lot of work to do and an exhausted team. With that, we are planning to get as many people involved in Christmas and winter break programs to help end the year on a great communal high note.
We know that the following destinations will be hosting volunteers throughout the holiday period, and need as much help as they can get.
We think many more will be added to this list in time.
Will travel be back to normal in December? Well, we really don’t know! But we are hopeful that it will and, for that reason, we will not be taking any deposit payments for any placements until we know more.
So, for now, why not register your interest in participating in a winter break or Christmas program, and give yourself something to look forward to as you give our teams across the world something they can look forward to as well? Register your interest using the form below.
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