Prior to the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 12 March 2020, an event in Malawi involving a handover from a donor would have been a large-scale ceremony and included ministers, government officials, donors and members of the community.

The small-scale event pledging COVID-19 emergency protective materials to the ministries of Education and Health in Malawi, although no less valuable,  illustrated the “new normal”.  The event took place on 22 September 2020 at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) headquarters in Lilongwe.

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The scourge of COVID-19 might have disrupted the lives of individuals, societies and governments across the world, but the partners of the Future Life-Now! programme determined that they would not allow the pandemic to halt communication, training and support in the 10 FutureLife-Now! pilot schools. Instead, an effective e-platform was established at all 10 schools in Malawi.

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It’s no easy job training almost 9 000 learners while keeping COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place. This is what 88 facilitators at Zambia’s 10 FutureLife-Now! schools were tasked with: Providing information to thousands of grade 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 learners about COVID-19 over an eight-day period while ensuring the safety of all concerned.

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In Zimbabwe, the coronavirus has had more far-reaching effects than what meets the eye. The pandemic is devastating the economy and threatening food security and has been most deeply felt in marginalized communities and rural areas. It is this that motivated the FutureLife-Now! programme to distribute food packs to its most vulnerable learners at its 10 pilot schools. 

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FutureLife-Now! is a regional programme designed to address the scourge of HIV and the associated challenges related to gender and climate change. To achieve its goal of reducing new HIV infections and increasing adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) amongst children and youth in the SADC Region, the programme leverages the successful SADC Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) Framework—developed in the early 2000s and which, in 2018, reached over 30 million of the region’s learners with support services.

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Between May 2019 and February 2020, the FutureLife-Now! the team conducted a context analysis and a baseline assessment to establish the status of learners’ knowledge and reported behavior related to HIV prevention and SRH (sexual and reproductive health), and climate change.

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An important component of the FutureLife-Now! programme is the testing of a package of school-based HIV/SRHR services and support in secondary schools. The medical service fair, facilitated by Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in partnership with FutureLife-Now! and its local partner, the United Methodist Church, made a significant contribution towards this support package.

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According to the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. MIET AFRICA’s regional programme, FutureLife-Now!, recently provided food parcels to vulnerable learners and their families in Malawi through its humanitarian emergency COVID-19 response project.

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In July, the FutureLife-Now! in-country coordinators and youth facilitator in Zambia visited the programme’s pilot schools, located in the Central and Lusaka Provinces. The purpose of the visit was to distribute 3 875 “dignity packs” to learners. The delivery of the packs—which included items such as soap, Dettol, toothpaste, sanitary towels and fruit juice—gave rise to much excitement and joy among the learners (and staff)

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During the FutureLife-Now! baseline survey that was conducted in the pilot schools in Lesotho, a scan of their infrastructure showed that all the schools were in dire need of improvement to their water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. For example, St. Barnabas High, a school with an enrolment of 670 learners, 21 teachers and 19 non-academic staff, has, for the last 18 years, been negatively affected by the shortage of water and in recent years has had no running water at all.

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