LET’S GET ECUADOR
VACCINATED
"Working to vaccinate underserved communities has taught me that we need a global perspective: It does no good to vaccinate just our community. This started as a global pandemic, and we can only end it as a global community looking out for the health and safety of all." - Debbie Medina, New York State Senate and Walking Palms Board Member
Walking Palms is collaborating with local health officials to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to Ecuador’s rural communities. Our goal is that all residents can get vaccinated, regardless of income or geographic region.
We need your help: Please consider a donation to help get Ecuador vaccinated.
HOW WILL MY DONATION HELP?
The Walking Palms Program expands access to the COVID-19 vaccine in Ecuador by:
Targeting 64 rural communities in Canton Sucre currently left out of the vaccination process
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Prioritizing seniors and the chronically ill to get vaccinated as soon as possible
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Helping residents without Internet get properly registered
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Transporting registered residents to regional vaccination centers
MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Rotary International and the municipal government of Canton Sucre, this campaign will also:
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Distribute educational materials to dispel vaccine misinformation
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Supply masks and other personal health supplies to low-income families who are still waiting for the vaccine
Provide direct employment for local public health professionals
WHY ECUADOR? WHY NOW?
While many wealthy countries are rapidly vaccinating their residents, developing countries like Ecuador struggle to distribute a limited amount of vaccine supply. Consider this:
The United States has distributed 15 times more vaccines per capita than Ecuador has.
At current vaccination rates, Ecuador might not achieve full vaccination for more than two years.
Programs like Walking Palms' are essential for not only speeding up vaccination rates in the developing world, but ensuring that those waiting in line are equipped to handle ongoing Covid-related health risks and economic challenges.
A COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE TO COVID-19
WALKING PALMS GLOBAL HEALTH HAS BEEN LEADING THE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN OUR REGION OF COASTAL ECUADOR.
‘MORE THAN FOOD’ EMERGENCY RELIEF DELIVERIES
A near complete lockdown in Ecuador helped slow the spread of COVID-19, but the economic consequences have been devastating for the country’s most at-risk communities. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the challenges facing workers in Latin America’s vast informal economy in April 2020 and how the economic situation is still dire a year later.
Thanks to an incredible response from our donor base, we were able to support 225 families in communities throughout the region with healthy food, health and safety gear, mental health resources and at-home kids activity packages. We were there for our community during the pandemic’s most acute phase last year, and we are still distributing relief packages to families with sick loved ones who are being forced to quarantine.
PROGRAM STATS
40,000 pounds of food delivered
225 families supported
216 donors
Program launched with: $150, one bike
COMMUNITY LEARNING PODS
The pandemic has made it nearly impossible for many children and families here in Bahía de Caráquez to access basic education.
From December 2020 - March 2021, Walking Palms launched Bahía’s only in-person educational program available to low income families. In the inaugural edition of our Community Learning Pods, a class of 17 students aged 6-16 who were in danger of being held back a grade received interventional tutoring and an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on music, art, botanics, physical education, mediation and emotional wellness.
This program was an extension of Harmony and Health, an immersive, interdisciplinary kids education program, which we launched in response to the devastating 2016 earthquake which struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast. Through music, art and meditation practices, kids came out of their shells and could truly begin the healing process.
In addition to this invaluable experience for the kids, Harmony and Health provides employment for our instructors who represent the diverse cultural fabric of this region.
All instructors receive competitive pay and reliable work during these challenging economic times, as well as professional development that includes leadership training, disaster preparedness workshops, emotional first aid, teaching pedagogy and team-building.
We are gearing up for another session, so pledge your support to allow these local musicians, artists, thespians and educators share their passion and talents with our students.
These guides are the first step at helping our residents handle the stress of this situation, empowering them to take back control of their mental health.
WOMEN’S HEALTH - REUSABLE MASK PRODUCTION
Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women in developing world countries. School closures have thrust child care onto women who only recently had begun making gains in employment opportunities, protection from domestic violence and other liberties women in the developed world have enjoyed for decades.
At the outset of the pandemic last year, Walking Palms employed local seamstresses to source materials, manufacture and distribute reusable masks. This program not only helped fill the gap of PPE shortages in the pandemic’s early months, but also provided badly needed income during the most acute phase of the pandemic.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE PREVENTION - MOSQUITOS y YO
With stretched local health resources focused on Covid-19, other risks like dengue fever have been on the rise in coastal Ecuador for the past 12 months. Co-infection conditions present numerous challenges, including diagnosis challenges due to similar early onset symptoms, limited hospital capacity and unknown interactions between Covid and other diseases. Here in the Bahia region, a regional water shortage compounded this problem since at-home water capture creates a breeding ground for mosquitos and other disease-carrying pests.
Expanding our existing Ambitious Science Education program, Mosquitos y Yo, Walking Palms partnered with the Ministry of Education to deliver our infectious disease education program to low income families in our communities. Collaborating with local artists, we adapted our in-person program to at-home version with interactive games, puzzles and craft activities aimed at raising awareness and teaching best practices to minimize infection risk.