Zambian mother of three and aid worker Tamara Longwe is being honored this month for her work in public health protocols that supported the trend of low rates of COVID-19 transmission and death in central Zambia.
Longwe works with Living Water International, a global non-governmental organization dedicated to developing global clean water and hygiene solutions. Since 2015, Longwe has been working in Chirundu, Keembe and Lusaka with rural populations to promote hygiene and sanitation behavior practices, including building sanitation facilities in dozens of schools. When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Longwe mobilized her Living Water team to respond, including:
Acting as the first organization in central Zambia to use public address systems mounted on cars to disseminate information about the prevention of COVID-19 with handwashing in communities where residents have no access to radios
Partnering with the Ministry of Health to secure public health brochures in multiple languages to distribute, utilizing local church leaders as liaisons to help spread the message
Constructing foot-operated hand wash stations 13 rural health facilities for use by medical workers and community members
Longwe is now being honored with the Living Water International 2020 Servant Leadership Award for her work battling the spread of COVID-19.
