A scheme being administered by an Addis Ababa doctor that links sponsors with local families impoverished by the epidemic. Bilal Shukur, the doctor who helped launch the “My Family” programme in May has connected 900 beneficiaries to sponsors in the US. Sponsors can be individuals or organisations, and are encouraged to provide beneficiaries with psychological as well as financial support. Ethiopia, like many African nations, has no social security system. No job means no food and, while the medical impact of the coronavirus has been relatively contained there with around 5,000 cases and 78 deaths, many more families have been left destitute by the economic slowdown it has caused. So for just under $60 per month that the sponsors provide can mean the difference between starvation and survival.
SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA
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