What have we achieved? - Reviews online. Part 1

The city partnership between Erlangen and San Carlos is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, we would like to take this opportunity to look back at some of the milestones in the partnership and, at irregular intervals, present special projects and partnership activities and share memories.

We will start with a project that was carried out in San Carlos from April to December 2021 and was supported with funds from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

To contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, various measures were implemented during the above-mentioned period. In order to protect people from infection, they were provided with hygiene materials and protective equipment and also informed about correct behavioral measures as part of an education and awareness campaign. The focus was placed on particularly vulnerable groups of people and professions: Employees of municipal services (e.g. people working in waste management with contact to potentially infectious waste), healthcare staff (both in medical facilities such as hospitals and health centers, as well as employees who carry out home visits in the various sub-communities), employees in school facilities and COVID-19 sufferers and their families received a set of hygiene and protective equipment adapted to their needs. During home visits to patients with COVID-19 infection, medication was also distributed that complied with the protocol for the treatment of COVID-19 established by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MINSA).

Another key objective of the project was to improve hygiene in schools in order to better protect pupils and staff. The water supply was significantly improved with the construction and connection of 100 washbasins at 37 schools. Urgently needed washing facilities were created to significantly improve hygiene through regular hand washing - an important measure during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

In addition to information events for the above-mentioned particularly vulnerable groups of people and professionals, activities were also held to educate the general public about behavioral and protective measures.

For this project, the city of Erlangen received a grant of around €44,730 from the BMZ via the "Municipal Corona Solidarity Package" funding program of Engagement Global gGmbH with its Service Agency Communities in One World. In addition to the city administration of San Carlos, the NGO ASODELCO in San Carlos was an important cooperation partner in order to be able to implement the activities.