NEWS FEATURE
Bangladesh
Army aids vulnerable people across Asia and Australasia IHQ AS the coronavirus continues to spread across large parts of Asia and Australasia, The Salvation Army is meeting the needs of the region’s most vulnerable people in a variety of ways. AUSTRALIA A Salvation Army supporter has converted his brewing business to mass-produce hand sanitiser and is supplying it for free to Salvation Army community services. Tim Page-Walker has adapted his business, Bellarine Brewing Company, to produce five-litre bottles of sanitiser to meet demand during the pandemic. The liquid is being produced to the World Health Organisation’s recommended formula. ‘This couldn’t have come at a better time,’ says Captain Peter Hobbs (Bellarine). ‘Our frontline workers at the Bellarine Salvo outreach van, the Geelong Salvo outreach van and SalvoConnect workers and clients 8
Salvationist 18 April 2020
Australia in Barwon are in much need of extra protection. ‘Tim was already thinking about adapting his brewery when we spoke to him about being low on sanitiser, so he made the change to meet the needs of local outreach workers and other businesses. Although we have really minimised our community connections during this time, we have a list of people who are really struggling, and we are dropping off essential items to them and keeping in touch from a distance.’
BANGLADESH The Army has distributed 10,000 bottles of hand sanitiser to communities, as well as installing handwashing facilities in a number of areas. In addition, 2,500 hygiene packs have been given to vulnerable people. The Army is the only organisation with access to Dhaka’s brothel areas, where it works with women who are sexually exploited, often helping them gain alternative employment. With the brothels closed because of coronavirus, the women have no income and have become even more vulnerable. Salvation Army teams have been providing food and ongoing support. The Army’s centre in Old Dhaka – which meets the needs of women who have left prostitution – has had to close in line with government restrictions. This leaves the women vulnerable and at risk of returning to sex work. To mitigate the risk, the Army has given each woman an initial two-week supply of groceries.
