Church donates PPE equipment to Namibian government in quest to curb COVID-19

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Namibia donated a consignment valued at $200,000 to the country’s Health and Social Services ministry earlier this month to assist in the fight against the novel Coronavirus.

The consignment included 10 000 medical grade face masks, 1,500 PPE overalls, 50 oxygen flow meters, seven portable surgical suction units, five vital sign monitors and five high-flow respirators. Additional items donated included full face masks and medical gowns for healthcare workers.

“I am pleased that your donations contain the most needed items,” Namibia’s Minister of Health and Social Services, Kalumbi Shangula, told Church representatives in Windhoek, the capital of the country. “They go to help our healthcare workers as well as to manage those patients in the Intensive Care Unit … They are essential commodities in our fight. We need to protect our health care workers. Only when they are protected, [are they] in a position to help others,” he said.

He added that the donation came at a time when the Ministry’s resources were stretched thin.

Minister Shangula went on to thank the Church for indicating its support for the country’s vaccination programme, which the department hopes will help the country reach herd immunity. “Truly the world has seen many diseases being eradicated. We have been able to achieve this feat through mass vaccination. It is a hope and our conviction that we can still achieve the same feat in the case of COVID-19,” he said.

According to the Worldometer report, Namibia has seen a total of almost 78,000 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. Almost 1,300 deaths have been recorded in this country with a total population of around 2,5 million people.

Demus Makuwa, a local leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that the donation was a sign of the mandate given by Jesus Christ to all human beings to show love and compassion to one another.

The bible injunction to “love God and love thy neighbour” has got practical implications at this particular time,” said President Makuwa. “Due to much suffering, loss of life and grief … We all need to join our hands and our hearts together to fight the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic in our country.”

President Makuwa said that the wearing of masks to inhibit the spread of the virus was part of a collective effort to beat the virus. This practice “demonstrates our love for our neighbours and our brothers and sisters,” he said.