The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
When the pandemic arrived in Malawi, GAIA quickly moved to protect our Mobile Health Clinic workers with full PPE and assist our government partners in the district health offices to obtain critical prevention commodities. We trained GAIA and district health facility staff on COVID-19 transmission and prevention guidelines and case management, and implemented rigorous social distancing, hygiene, and safety protocols at Mobile Health Clinics. Recognizing the need to continue providing essential services to our clients, in 2020, GAIA’s Mobile Health Clinics operated on schedule 98% of the time and directly distributed essential prevention and hygiene supplies to more than 10,550 households in Mulanje district, primarily targeting vulnerable elderly populations. These distributions included: 10,550 handwashing stations and 155,580 tablets of soap, and more than 10,390 locally sewn cloth face masks. (We've continued with PPEs, etc. in 2021.) The government also quickly imposed lockdown restrictions and closed all schools, including nursing colleges. Schools remained closed until September, and reopening came with increased dependence on independent study and online learning, a challenge in the Malawi context. During the lockdown, GAIA adapted to the changing needs of nursing students and provided scholars with psychosocial support to help them cope with remote learning. GAIA also provided tablets so that scholars could participate in online learning and remain in school. While the COVID-19 pandemic presented many unprecedented challenges for the GAIA team, from the onset of the outbreak, Joyce, GAIA’s Country Director, and her team were clear that battling COVID-19 (and staying safe) was objective #1, and still they persevered in providing critical clinical services and growing the healthcare workforce of tomorrow. Through the adaptability and dedication of the GAIA team, we achieved remarkable milestones in 2020 despite the challenges posed.