Humanity & Inclusion (HI) has distributed food kits to more than 120 families in Bolivia

Bolivia, where HI has worked since 2011, has also been affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, with more than 4,000 people contaminated by the virus. Valérie Beauchemin, director of HI in Bolivia and Peru, tells us more.

“Bolivia and Peru have both been hit by the Covid-19 epidemic. The authorities responded swiftly and the whole population has been in lockdown since mid-March."

In Bolivia, since 2011, our teams have been working a lot with people with disabilities, who have been badly affected by the epidemic. People with disabilities who have chronic diseases and need health care cannot go to see the doctor, they no longer have access to medication, etc. which is extremely challenging. They are also very isolated by social distancing measures, no longer go into the street to do their shopping, and receive less help for routine activities.

Critical financial situation

“This epidemic has also had a significant impact on society and the economy. Many people we help can no longer work and have found themself in a dire financial situation."

One way we have assisted them is to distribute food kits and hygiene kits to 127 families whose members include people with disabilities, single-parent families, or families on very low incomes, in the cities of El Alto and La Paz. The food kits contained non-perishable foodstuffs, fresh organic produce from an organisation of small-scale farmers we know, and hygiene kits including soap, cleaning products, etc. HI will shortly distribute similar kits to 375 families in Bolivia and to 325 families in Peru.