DAKAR, 17 JUNE, 2020 - A total of 500 families of low-income households in Senegal have received essential food and household items, as the SEED Project concludes today, the first phase of its COVID-19 Relief Packages Campaign - providing temporary relief to families with children.
The COVID-19 crisis has not only been threatening lives and the health of many but has also proven to impose additional rippling challenges. One of these significant challenges being food security, where many individuals, particularly youth, have an undersupply of sufficient, safe, and nutritious food due to a lack of ‘physical, social, and economic’ means.
“With schools now closed in Senegal, and livelihoods compromised, SEED Project is conscious of a double negative effect the COVID-19 crisis has on vulnerable populations concerning access to food”, stated SEED Project President Joseph Lopez. “Embarking on this COVID-19 Relief Packages Campaign to supply essential household survival items such as pasta, rice, sugar, cooking oil, eggs, chicken and flour is by no means a solution, but it does provide much needed temporary relief, which can make all the difference to families”.
Led by former SEED Academy students, a total of about 25 SEED alumni embarked on the relief campaign in the five towns Thies, Pire, Saint Louis, Tivaouane, and Yeumbeul.
All of us are originally from one of these towns, and SEED Project has helped educate, equip, and empower us to have more opportunities. I was fortunate to transition to the US, where I was able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Now, I’m a professional scout for the Denver Nuggets.”, said SEED Alumnus Dethie Fall, “It’s important to us Alumni that we re-assure the disadvantaged groups of the greater SEED community that they are not left behind, they are not forgotten – with SEED, we will always come back and do what we can, with what we have.
In addition to the food items, SEED COVID Relief Packsacks include cleaning products, reminding populations of the increased importance of hygiene and sanitation practices, during the COVID pandemic. The Campaign has been entirely funded through donations by ‘SEED friends’, SEED Alumni, and private corporations, including Senegal’s SEDIMA Group.
With a target of 500 families, an estimated 3,500 people, including children, have been directly impacted.