With the assistance of UCA, the non-profit Save the Rain was able to put a shelter-in-place order for all of their Tanzania staff by providing them with enough food to stay healthy for one month as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Tanzania. It kept the 115 staff and their family’s off of public transportation and out of crowded marketplaces to be safe.
But after that month, their communities were on the brink of a hunger disaster. In addition, a survey found that 95% of people in their villages didn’t have soap and far less had protective face masks.
Rotary Clubs in California and Canada, Save the Rain and UCA moved together into action. This partnership allowed approximately 48,000 people in 10 villages to get access to quick-growing food starts for their garden, soap and tree saplings that will enable them to make their own soap in the future, as well as masks that have been made within their villages. Lives have been saved and alternative food sources are now growing.
As always with Save the Rain, the staff of mostly women in local villages were 100% invested in their service to their communities. Greenhouses built, knowledge shared, gardens and sapling trees grown, soap and masks distributed, and care for families all delivered diligently, light-heartedly and caringly.