In the past week, Africa’s number of coronavirus cases soared by more than 40 percent, “stoking concerns that the continent could become the epicenter of the pandemic at a time when hunger is rising and doctors fear a resurgence of malaria deaths,” reported The Washington Post on April 23.

According to a United Nations estimate, the virus threatens to kill more than 300,000 people on the continent, and plunge tens of millions more into poverty.

At Bread and Water for Africa^®, we are striving to assist our partners which provide loving homes for orphaned and abandoned children at the Lewa Children’s Home in Kenya, the Kabwata Orphanage, and Transit Centre in Zambia, and the Lerato Children’s Village in Zimbabwe.

In Zambia, the children at the Kabwata Orphanage and Transit Centre are being cared for following isolation protocol. Food has become scarce in parts of the country, with prices increasing in recent days. Our funding continues to provide for the basic needs the children need, as well as the creative means of continuing with studies via distance learning.

In Zimbabwe, the situation is increasingly dire as the persistent drought has devastated agricultural production for the past several years in a country that was once known as the breadbasket of Africa. Consequently, Lerato Children’s Village is working hard to maintain basic needs for the children, including their health and safety, as well as having to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

While the manner in which each completes their day-to-day operations have changed, and food is harder to come by, the resilience and adaptability of our program directors has been inspiring. Education is adapting, medical care is prioritized and made available, and food is found, by creative means when needed, so that the children are cared for.