Humanitarian work in the pangs of drought, COVID-19

IN Zimbabwe more than half of the population will require food assistance. This dire situation is largely attributed to economic challenges, climate change and is exacerbated by the novel coronavirus.

This comes as the country has barely recovered from Cyclone Idai. This situation has left citizens, especially the unemployed, young, women and those in the rural communities vulnerable and relying on handouts from the government, individual donors, local and international humanitarian organisations

Flash flooding in the Manicaland left more than 40 000 people food insecure. Due to drought, their 2019 harvests had been depleted and needed replenishment to last them up to the next harvest. Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic some of the communities in the area were already food insecure. As humanitarian workers we were left with no choice, but to intervene.

The pandemic complicated our work, presenting us with a crisis in the middle of a relief operation. The impossible choice before us was to either stay home and let the communities starve or get into the community and distribute food. We chose the latter, aware of the risks.

The World Health Organisation’s recommended guidelines were our compass. We deployed the stipulated measures and developed new ways of distributing food, different from what we were accustomed to.

In addition to distributing food, we started raising awareness on COVID-19 in partnership with the Health and Child Care ministry.

Our actions were fortified by the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres, who called for a unified response to the global crisis, putting emphasis on “humanitarian needs.” For us there was no better way to complement his efforts than getting in the community to distribute aid at the same time raising awareness about the pandemic.

Restrictions on gatherings prolonged and slowed down the distribution process, for the safety reasons given. Distribution timetables were revised and we had to explain this to the local leadership such as traditional leaders. To cope with this, the distribution points were increased to avoid overcrowding.

Complementary activities that were deemed non-essential were put on hold. Some of the activities were meant to build resilience and ensure that the interventions were based on sustainability and that communities would not rely on aid in the future. This unfortunately prolongs the dependency syndrome where communities are more dependent on aid than on their capacities.

Socially, most of the humanitarian aid workers stay away from home or their families. We faced the challenge of evictions, social isolation, shunning and this affected our mental wellbeing. There was more suspicion, less open attitude, staff were targeted out of stigma and fear.

Needless to say, our mental and emotional wellness was impacted as we lived in constant fear of contracting the virus, given our continued contact with communities. We also feared for the communities we were serving that if one of us contracted the virus there was high risk that we might spread it to the people we were assisting.

There was also backlash against the humanitarian aid workers on social media, especially when the lockdown was declared and we were exempted, many viewed us as potential carriers and transmitters of the virus.

With the communities we were working with, things took a different narrative as we had changed the course of what used to be normal. Gloves and masks made us look like we resented communities we were helping. For them it was a foreign thing which is only done by anti-social and selfcentred individuals. As time went by, they ended up adapting. From some of the sensitisation meetings we had, some of them were then better informed on why we were wearing masks and gloves.

As seen in the foregoing, it is worth noting that community sensitisation meetings as well as open communication with communities helped to build trust and compliance to the measures put in place to prevent and contain the virus. Capacity-building activities for traditional leadership also proved to be useful.

It was a difficult period and is still a difficult period for some both physically and emotionally. As aid workers, we religiously followed precautionary measures so as to ensure that we were safe.

We made sure that we supported each other, took note of the weakest person in the group and made sure to provide psychosocial support and solidarity. These experiences gave us a practical feel of flexibility and adaptability, virtues that ActionAid espouses.

At an interpersonal level, keeping virtual connections with families, friends and other co-workers was as important as the recognition and appreciation we received from the ActionAid Zimbabwe team which kept us motivated and focused. Without a doubt, recognition goes a long way in any work set-up as it keeps staff going.

This experience has helped us to apply theory to practice. As we continue to serve the people from whom our mandate is derived, our humanitarian signature will be bolstered in the quest for more resilient communities.

Alice Ropafadzo Gavera writes here in her personal capacity