COVID-19 in Togo
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The Togolese government has taken some drastic measures to curtail the spread of the virus in the country. All land borders and air traffic has been suspended. Lomé, Tsévié, Kpalimé and Sokodé are under total lockdown. All schools and places of worship have been shut down and mass cultural activities, sporting activities, and nightclubs are suspended until further notice.
The difficult reality is that many households in Togo do not have the income required to stock up on supplies needed for quarantine or facilities/infrastructure to support a long shut down. Consequently, people are faced with a difficult choice: stay at home and face hunger or continue to go out to find food and risk contamination and spread of Covid-19.
Track COVID-19 Updates in Togo
For the time being, we have adjusted our goals with a focus on supporting youth and their families during COVID-19.
Strategy One
Food security (and rising food prices) is a signifiance concern in Togo. For every $100 we raise, we can provide 11-12 students and their family basic food staples for two weeks time. This will allow them to better socially distance and stay at home by reducing the amount of times their family's must go out for food.
Strategy Two
In the United States, we are lucky to have technology in many households. This is not the case in Togo. However, nearly all of the student participants in our youth group have cell phones and we can contact them via WhatsApp. We will be working with their local English instructor to develop curriculum material so they can continue their English and personal financial education via documents and video recordings sent to them through the WhatsApp platform.