9 Things you can do to help Ethiopians fight against COVID-19
Pick up the phone and talk to your family: Yup it's as simple as that. Your family need to understand the seriousness of this outbreak from you. Encourage them to come up with a plan to protect the elderly and those with underlying conditions. Unsurprisingly a lot of our people don't know much about the virus and how it transmits. Even if you feel like they are aware of the situation, double-checking on them can clarify the doubts they have about the virus. P.S. when you do that make sure you use information taken from reliable sources like WHO, MOH etc.
Encourage Social Distancing: Inform people that, when we are not Social distancing, we are making the issues worst for all. Experts have said social distancing is the most effective way to slow down the outbreak, minimize the chance of infection among high-risk populations and to reduce the burden on health care systems and workers.
Reach out to religious leaders: Religious leaders are the most respected figures in our communities. Especially at the family and community level, religious leaders have the power to raise awareness and influence attitudes, behaviors and practices. Contact religious leaders in Ethiopia or around the world and tell them how serious the virus is and urge them to create awareness.
Help fight fake news: Be the dead end. In times like these fear and fake news can do a lot more damage than the virus. The chain message you received from your friends saying they are from a doctor in Italy or a student from china are usually not substantiated and have a higher chance of being fake. So be the dead end and don't share them with anyone.
Make donations and volunteer: Do you want to help on a larger scale and don't know where to start? Connect with Ethiopia COVID-19 Response Task Force Community. A group of techies, medical professionals, architects and media gurus that came together from all over the world to help Ethiopia by extension, the whole world fight against covid-19. The work done by the task force ranges from technological solutions to creating awareness to the community. The list of professions needed to help is not limited to the ones mentioned above. If you feel you can contribute something, join the task force now. Follow them on Instagram to learn more. Link: https://www.instagram.com/covid19.et/
Don't travel to Ethiopia: It is known that most of the covid-19 cases detected in Ethiopia are cases related to travel from a foreign country. In plain words, even if you don't have the virus now you might pick it up at the airport and carry it to Ethiopia, I am sure you don't want to take the infection to your families back in Ethiopia. The other reason is if you decide to come back to Ethiopia now, you will be quarantined for 14 days at your own expense. If the designated hotels are fully booked, or you can't afford the prices, you might be transferred to Addis Ababa University of Science and technology, which might not be a pleasant experience.
Donate to the emergency response in Ethiopia: We all know the coronavirus fallout hasn't started yet in Ethiopia, but once it starts less economically stable folks are going to be left behind to fight by themselves. If you want to help them, you can donate to the humanitarian support alliance run by Yared Shumete and the Ethiopian Red Cross society. The donation can be both in cash and in-kind, and you can also debit money to their bank account directly via the swift code. More information can be found at Ethiopian red cross society Facebook page or Yared Shumete's Facebook page. If the option mentioned earlier is a bit too little for your pocket, you can go big and support the national #COVID-19 resource mobilization committee run by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Import much needed equipments and goods: Are you a businessperson working on import/export industry? The Ethiopian drug registration and administration agency are offering a quick license to those who may be able to import equipment necessary to treat coronavirus patients. If you have enough financial capability and have the experience in the field, you can leverage this opportunity and import much needed medical equipment to Ethiopia. The list of items that can be imported can be found on "የኢትዮጵያ የምግብና መድኃኒት ቁጥጥር ባለስልጣን/Ethiopian food drug and medicine administration agency" Facebook page.
Offer help/Get help: For those who would like to offer or recieve any kind of help (money, grocery shopping, child care, housing etc), there is a five question form you can complete and send it to Shades of Injera instagram page. There is an Instagram story dedicated to connecting people who want to help with those people who need help.
Finally I want everyone to know that we are in this together and we will get through it. Let’s make a team effort and take care of ourselves and loved ones.