A COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE TO COVID-19

FREE COMMUNITY COVID TESTING

Ecuador has made remarkable strides in distributing vaccines, but testing remains prohibitively expensive for most residents and small businesses. Limited testing breeds fear and uncertainty, which is hindering the economic rebound our community so badly needs.

After being asked by local health officials to advise on our region’s vaccine rollout earlier this year, Walking Palms launched a free community COVID testing program in May 2021. Thanks to weekly testing for small businesses and front-line workers, we are fostering economic activity and job creation at the 18 local stores and restaurants in our pilot program. Through a collaboration with the Mercadito Manabito, a weekly craft fair for local artisans, Walking Palms is helping direct spending into small businesses, many of which are women-owned and operated.

As the only free, regular testing available in Bahía we hope to expand the program to more businesses to further stimulate the local economy and get people back to work.

DIABETES MONITORING AND TREATMENT FOR SENIORS

The pandemic has exacerbated conditions for our senior population living with chronic conditions like Diabetes. With their greater risk for Covid-related complications, seniors are more isolated than ever and their access to essential medicines has in some cases disappeared completely.

Expanding our Diabetes Care program which we launched in 2017, Walking Palms now offers a comprehensive monitoring and care service to low-income seniors throughout Bahia. The program offers:

• Bi-monthly visits from our registered nurse and nutritionist

• Free insulin and glucose monitoring equipment

• Weekly deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables

The program has shown dramatic results, with patients’ glucose readings now in healthy ranges, down from dangerously high levels.

Chronic disease, in particular diabetes, is prevalent throughout our region’s most vulnerable communities. We have the capacity to expand this program, and can do so thanks to your contributions!

HOLISTIC EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT FOR AT-RISK STUDENTS

An estimated 30% of students here in Bahía de Caráquez are unable to attend remote school programs since low-income families often lack the necessary technology or resources to participate in distance learning.

This is where Harmony and Health, Walking Palms' kids education and enrichment program, comes in. Launched in 2016, this collaborative program between Walking Palms and local community leaders has taken on increased importance during the pandemic. To date, we have delivered over 3,500 hours of instruction to 65 students, with the goal of reaching 9,000 hours by the end of 2021!

• Interventional tutoring to help students complete required remote learning coursework

• In-person, personal attention with a 3:1 student-to-instructor ratio
  

• Interdisciplinary curriculum focused on music, art, botanics, physical education, mediation and emotional wellness.
  

• COVID safety measures approved by local health and safety administration

In addition to this invaluable experience for the kids, Harmony and Health provides employment for our instructors who represent the diverse cultural fabric of this region.

All instructors not only receive competitive pay and reliable work during these challenging economic times, but professional development that includes leadership training, disaster preparedness workshops, emotional first aid, teaching pedagogy and team-building.

‘MORE THAN FOOD’ EMERGENCY RELIEF DELIVERIES

A near complete lockdown in Ecuador helped slow the spread of COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, but the economic consequences were devastating for the country’s most at-risk communities. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the challenges facing workers in Latin America’s vast informal economy and how the economic situation is still dire a year later.

Thanks to an incredible response from our donor base, we were able to support 225 families in communities throughout the region with healthy food, health and safety gear, mental health resources and at-home kids activity packages. We were there for our community during the pandemic’s most acute phase last year, and we are still distributing relief packages to families with sick loved ones who are being forced to quarantine.

PROGRAM STATS

• 40,000 pounds of food delivered

• 225 families supported

• 216 donors

• Program launched with: $150, one bike

In 2021, we re-started deliveries focusing on chronically ill patients - in particular those with diabetes. Weekly deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables are helping local residents eat healthier and reduce their reliance on hard-to-find, expensive medications.

WOMEN’S HEALTH - REUSABLE MASK PRODUCTION

Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women in developing world countries. School closures have thrust child care onto women who only recently had begun making gains in employment opportunities, protection from domestic violence and other liberties women in the developed world have enjoyed for decades.

At the outset of the pandemic last year, Walking Palms employed local seamstresses to source materials, manufacture and distribute reusable masks. This program not only helped fill the gap of PPE shortages in the pandemic’s early months, but also provided badly needed income during the most acute phase of the pandemic.

INFECTIOUS DISEASE PREVENTION - MOSQUITOS y YO

With stretched local health resources focused on Covid-19, other risks like dengue fever have been on the rise in coastal Ecuador for the past 12 months. Co-infection conditions present numerous challenges, including diagnosis challenges due to similar early onset symptoms, limited hospital capacity and unknown interactions between Covid and other diseases. Here in the Bahia region, a regional water shortage compounded this problem since at-home water capture creates a breeding ground for mosquitos and other disease-carrying pests.

Expanding our existing Ambitious Science Education program, Mosquitos y Yo, Walking Palms partnered with the Ministry of Education to deliver our infectious disease education program to low income families in our communities. Collaborating with local artists, we adapted our in-person program to at-home version with interactive games, puzzles and craft activities aimed at raising awareness and teaching best practices to minimize infection risk.