Faraja Foundation COVID-19 Statement

Due to the restrictive measures introduced by the GoK, we have slightly redesigned and adjusted some activities. We are also engaged in remote work coordination which has been ongoing for  3 weeks now. Other working means are through phone coordination and we are constant communication with the Kenya Prisons Service to see what is do-able and what’s not doable via remote implementation and collaboration with the prison officers who are fully on duty even if not actively involved in day to day routine of work. We are to introduce activity implementation directly within the prisons through Social and Welfare officers under Faraja’s guidance.

Faraja Foundation plans to continue its partnership through close collaborations with correctional facilities and will liaise and facilitate Social Welfare Officers to conduct case screening and assessment should the COVID 19 situation continuous with the hope that infection rates will go down and we shall be able to facilitate outside the correctional facilities in collaboration with the Prison staff.

Faraja’s interventions on the COVID 19 prevention campaign launch in Prisons

1. Faraja Foundation, in compliance with the government of Kenya’s directives, suspended all prison-related trainings, monitoring and evaluation activities in the secondary schools and halted the needs assessment activities.
2. With focus being on the primary beneficiary, who is the prisoner, Faraja Foundation launched a donation/ funds drive aimed at urging Kenyan’s of goodwill to donate to those behind bards to be able to cater for their basic needs that were otherwise supplied by their relatives who visited the prison institutions and also to maintain high standards of hygiene to curb the spread of the virus. On 3^rd April 2020, we donated 350 boxes of bar soaps, diapers and 236 bales of tissue papers to the Kenya Prisons Service. The donations were received by the Commissioner General of Prisons, Mr. Wycliffe Ogallo.
3. The foundation has bought sanitizers, disinfectants and handwash detergents which have been strategically placed at the entrance to the premises. Moreover, the security guards have also been provided with Facial Masks to curb any contractionsHow this has affected our operations
   1. We are not able to facilitate clients directly
   2. We are not able to hold meetings with stakeholders or attend meetings
   3. Our social workers are not able to do cross country movement in order to implement activities which cuts out regions outside Nairobi.
   4. The shift time for the security guards has been altered to comply with the government’s-imposed curfew
   5. Our 7 staff members are now working remotely from home. This was a decision made to safeguard their health since most use public means of transport to work and back.

   ~ Some of the staff members has been encouraged to take leave if they are not actively involved in specific tasks.

   6. Our focus is now on resource mobilization and the team has been grouped to handle various tasks as assigned with specific timelines given for each task.
   7. Most of the communication is done through email, with phone calls made when clarity needs to be made on various matters.
   8. The senior management meets often when there is a need to actualize an initiative or respond to various administrative and management issues.
   9. Monthly activities have greatly reduced and this will result in less of activity reporting and more of fundraising initiatives reporting

   What is possible

   1. Meetings can be held online through skype or through email to catch up on weekly activities, achievements, challenges
   2. Resource mobilization activities can be done, particularly grant proposal writing
   3. All employees can actively be engaged in various activities

    

   4. Various other initiatives that do not involve direct access to the correctional institutions can be developed and initiated such as the Launch of the Donations to help prisoners
   5. We shall purpose to work more in collaboration with the prison social welfare Departments to assist in internal Psychosocial analysis, case management and report compilations.
   6. We shall implement on a few activities that can be monitored remotely
   7. We shall engage more in lobbying on behalf of our clients in the correctional facilities.

   What is not possible

   1. Majority of the programmatic activities cannot be conducted especially where one on one client intervention activities applies.
   2. Majority of the activities under different donor projects cannot be conducted, case in point, Economic Empowerment activities in the European Union Project, which involves travelling to remote areas. This may pose a health and security risk for our teams.
   3. Clients cannot visit our offices during this time hence hampering Humanitarian aid that they may be seeking
   4. No fundraising or activity events can be held