WATAMU COMMUNITY SUPPORT INITIATIVES DURING COVID-19
Date published: 28/04/2020
Greetings to all of our Hemingways friends and family,
We hope that you are all well and staying safe during these challenging times. Hemingways Watamu is still open and offering delicious takeaway meals for our community which helps to ensure that we do not have to cook every meal for ourselves during our night time curfews. However, there are many local people who cannot afford to eat in any way due to closure of almost all the hotels, restaurants and businesses in the area.
As such, Hemingways has partnered with several community groups in Watamu to support two specific fundraising initiatives.
The Watamu community has set up a food programme to provide food parcels to the most needy in the community. The food parcels will be made up of Corn flour (for Ugali) and Beans and will be distributed through community leaders primarily in the Dongokundu, Jiwe Leupe and Timboni communities focusing on single parents, the unemployed and people with disabilities. The Watamu Covid 19 Food Programme is run by the Watamu Association, Watamu Against Crime, various hotels and individual community members. We are working with government agencies, the Red Cross and the Chamber of Commerce to ensure complimentary services are provided.
General details are on the poster below (including details on how to donate via Mpesa for those in Kenya) and we would truly appreciate any assistance you can provide.
Trash for Cash with Ecoworld Recycling
Collecting Trash for Cash will give, at least, 35 people a weekly income which will feed a much larger number in their family circles. The project is aimed at people and businesses who have previously supported beach cleaning initiatives and employment of women and youth groups.
When the COVID-19 crisis is over, EcoWorld will be setting up a “buy back” scheme for plastic recycling in Watamu where local people will be paid by the kg for plastic they collect from roads and beaches. This will be a long term and sustainable initiative which is not possible to implement just now because of the crisis.
How to Donate
Via bank transfer to:
Account Name: Watamu Marine Association Bank: Diamond Trust Bank Branch: Watamu Account Number: 0322599001 SWIFT CODE: DTKEKENA
Via LIPA NA MPESA to:
Paybill Number: 436390 Account Number: WMA
Donors will receive acknowledgement on the WMA website and social media if they wish.
We would dearly appreciate any support you are able to provide to these vital programmes to help the people of Watamu through this incredibly difficult time.
For our international friends and supporters, we have set up a Just Giving page to make it easy for people to donate and share with friends. We will split the total donation received 50/50 between the two projects unless donors specifically request for their donations to contribute to one of the particular projects.
The entire Hemingways Team wishes you well and looks forward to welcoming you back to Watamu when we come out on the other side.
Take care,
The Hemingways Watamu team
