FOR the field team of the Guyana Red Cross Society, responding to COVID-19 has meant time away from families, thousands of miles by car, plane and boat, and arranging logistics for tonnes of cleaning and hygiene supplies destined for people living in remote corners of the country.

“We have a lot of small communities that do not necessarily have Internet, they are usually reached by radio or by people travelling into the community themselves to share information,” said Andrea Phillips, Guyana Red Cross Society COVID-19 project manager and the team lead.

So, that is what the Guyana Red Cross Society does. They work with Indigenous communities, in migrant settlements, and at the markets in transportation hubs, sharing information about COVID-19 and how to stay safe and healthy. For some people, their interaction with the four women that make up the team will be their only opportunity to ask questions about the disease that they have been hearing about from others.

“We have found that communities are very receptive to people who take the time to come into the community, share the information… give time for them to ask questions to ensure they are clearly able to understand,” Phillips said.

In St. Aslems, in Region One, Joan Webber asked about how she would know if she or her family had come into contact with the virus. The team had come to her community by power boat, and Webber sat in her small dugout canoe as she learned about symptoms. She then received a bag with hand sanitizer, soap, laundry detergent, bleach, and other supplies she could use to protect herself and her family.

“People are pretty thankful for the activity and the fact that Red Cross is coming to the [river-based] communities to assist them,” said Samesta Martin-Forde, a Guyana Red Cross field officer.

“It has gone far, especially in these communities where, you have a lockdown, so they cannot access [sanitation supplies], or you have poor communities where they may not be able to supply themselves,” Phillips said.

Getting to St. Aslems was no easy task. Alana Prescod, who handles logistics, oversaw moving everything from toothpaste to toilet paper from Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, to Mabaruma, about 250 kilometers away. But there are no roads, the tonnes of equipment had to be flown on two separate charter flights, before being trucked to the motel room where the team slept and that served as a temporary warehouse.

In the small, hot and humid room, the team worked with their masks on to pack the bags that would be given away. “I am very happy with the team that we have. It’s a small team, but a hard-working team. Each person has a role on the team and we have been able to complement each other in a way that we’ve been able to deliver the service that’s required by working together,” said Phillips.

The bags were trucked to the docks to be loaded on to the boat that would take the team upriver. Over a two-day period, the team reached 80 families, moving up and down along a river. A community leader and a boat captain guided them in and out of the tight mangroves to people’s homes. The mornings were hot and sunny, but on the trip back to town the first day, it began to rain. The drops were hitting like needles as the speedboat raced to get them back and off the water. When they completed the work, they immediately started meeting with other leaders in the area, to see what was needed next and by whom.

“I love helping persons, it always puts a smile on my face when you can give something to someone and they appreciate it, whether it is something big or something small and it makes me feel happy, and I would say that’s why I am doing what I am today,” Prescod said.