The world is battling with the COVID-19 and different organisations, and churches in conjunction with the government are fighting tooth and nail to avert the situation. The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) through its Local Advocacy Champions (LAC) has joined hands with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, The Zimbabwe Republic Police and Government to fight the CoronaVirus.

The ZCA uses radio, newspapers and public announcements to raise awareness and in encouraging people to vaccinate against COVID-19. During the LAC exchange visit, the Masvingo COVID-19 Taskforce Spokesperson, Mr. Rodgers Irimai (pictured) made a presentation showing strides that have been made in the Masvingo Province.

Mr. Irimai said there is a systematized approach in Masvingo being used to fight COVID-19. There are COVID-19 Taskforce Subcommittees namely, Rapid Response, lockdown Enforcement Resource Mobilization, Human resources, Public Works and Risk communication. These bring their efforts together to fight COVID-19.

“We fight COVID-19 through engaging stakeholder participation in disseminating COVID-19 messages,” said Irimai. He also pointed out that they spearhead COVID-19 awareness programs on radio, newspapers and the internet. This coordination of media publications is meant to dispel myths and misinformation about COVID-19.

Recently, Mr. Irimai, joined the ZCA COVID-19 Awareness Drive which was held at Mucheke Shopping Centre to spread the message on COVID-19 regulations and precautionary measures. Mucheke area has a collection of different businesses and the informal sector being the dominant one. So, mega phones were used to spread the message.

In his speech during the LAC Exchange program, Mr. Irimai commended the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance for the good work they do in Masvingo District.

“The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance came in handy in psycho-social support. Our reach as government was at times limited because of resource constraints, but now when partners come in, especially when we are talking about reaching out to the people, the organisation (ZCA) was very very important to us and is still important to us. We were able to facilitate training so that the leaders, the clergy would be able to know. We have done training in Masvingo urban and Zaka with the leaders. We know that the leaders have a following; the church has the largest following. So, if you reach church leaders, you know that you have reached many people.” Said Irimai

ZCA has used radio to communicate messages on COVID-19. Radio has a bigger reach and allows people to participate through calling or writing in. In Masvingo, it used Hevoi FM.  

“Live programs were organised on Hevoi FM.  We had several of them. We have a local radio (Hevoi  FM) which is doing a great job. Through the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance we have been able to utilise the opportunity to reach out to listeners who are in our Province”, said Irimai.