Towards inclusive and resilient communities
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Dear friends and partners,
Warm greetings from The Action Foundation!
It has been quite an eventful couple of months at The Action Foundation. We are excited to share with you the key highlights in this newsletter.
In addition to meeting the diverse needs of our communities through various interventions, we have contributed to shifting norms and attitudes towards persons with disabilities through community-level and global advocacy platforms.
This has been made possible by your support and encouragement.
Stay safe and healthy!
Maria
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Promoting responsive caregiving practices for caregivers of children with disabilities
Our TUNZA Program aims to strengthen the capacity of caregivers of children with disabilities to support the diverse needs of the children. We encourage fathers to take on caregiving roles & foster enhanced interactions with their children to promote their wellbeing & holistic development.
We hosted two radio shows in local radio stations, Pamoja FM in Kibera and Radio Mtaani in Kawangware. These provided a platform for two fathers of children with disabilities to share their experiences caring for their children to sensitize the community(s) on positive & responsible parenting.
We also held workshops for fathers and had very insightful discussions & dialogues on how they can be supported to take on a more active role in caregiving and safeguarding of children with disabilities.
Supporting children with disabilities through early interventions.
Dion*, a beneficiary in our TUNZA Program, underwent successful orthopedic surgery to correct clubfoot. He is currently receiving post-rehabilitation care and is well on his journey towards full recovery. It is such milestones and the beautiful smile on his face that drives us to keep going!
We continue to provide community rehabilitation services including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and nutritional support to children with disabilities at our two therapy centers in Kibera and Kawangware. Having realized an unmet need in pediatrics healthcare among children with disabilities, we partnered with Human Face Initiative to conduct pediatric clinics for children with disabilities in our TUNZA program. During the clinics, we provide access to screening, treatment, referral, and further follow-up. The clinics will be held every two months at each therapy center.
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Ensuring Child-Friendly Schools
The Action Foundation believes it is not enough to get children into school; it is also crucial to improve the overall quality of schooling and address threats to participation. Developed by UNICEF, The Child-Friendly Schools ( CFS) Approach puts every child at the center of a holistic learning and teaching environment. Following a series of training to the school board of management members and headteachers, we held a meeting to review their priority areas and action plans to make their schools child-friendly. As part of our Tuwalinde Project, funded by Comic Relief, we will be supporting each school to execute its CFS priority areas.
Somesha Stories as an inclusive digital learning resource
We released new Somesha Stories episodes on our Somesha Online Youtube channel and our Somesha Mobile Based Application available on Playstore.
The Somesha Stories Project aims to promote early literacy, learning, and language development for children with & without disabilities. We support teachers in our partner schools on how to use the Somesha Stories as a tool to help children with and without disabilities to enhance their learning outcomes.
We held a virtual review and feedback session with educational experts, learners, caregivers, and Ministry of Education officials to gather feedback on the Stories and areas that can improve their impact.
Somesha Reading Club for early literacy and language development
We are happy to share that the after-school Reading Club at TAF Hub resumed in April, incorporating children with and without disabilities. There is a notable improvement in literacy levels among the remedial learners, and we plan to roll out the program in our partner schools following the design and pilot phase.
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Official Opening of The Action Foundation Workshop and Skills Center
As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, job losses and inadequate household income have continued to disproportionately affect households of women with disabilities and caregivers of children with disabilities. Therefore, our Ibuka Skills Program was established to support and equip caregivers and women with market-relevant low-cost technical skills in various categories ranging from catering and food production, hairdressing, and nail art to tailoring and fashion design.
The Workshop and Skills Center hosts a Tailoring, Hairdressing & Beauty Studio, Catering and Food Production Unit, and a Workshop to make assistive devices and learning support materials for children with disabilities. It was constructed with funding from Safaricom Foundation through their Pamoja Scheme and officially opened on July 15th.
Mentorship in STEM for Girls with Disabilities
Girls with disabilities need an education that goes beyond literacy and numeracy, one that equips them with the tools to equally and actively participate in solving the complex challenges our world faces. This can only be achieved through concerted efforts to eliminate the persistent gender disparities and social norms that marginalize girls with disabilities from STEM education.
We held a STEM Boot Camp at the TAF Hub targeting girls in secondary school over the holiday period, where they learned coding, programming, and robotics. In addition, four girls with disabilities who recently completed their Primary Education were awarded scholarships by our partner STEM Impact Centre Kenya to participate in a three-week-long virtual STEM Boot Camp. The girls learned coding, mobile application development, and robotics, where they completed various projects, including developing a food delivery app and a children's game. The IBUKA Program STEM Mentorship Program aims to cultivate girls with disabilities' interest in STEM subjects and careers and support them to be innovators and problem-solvers in their communities.
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In Partnership with Urgent Action Fund-Africa and Amplify Girls, The Action Foundation will be launching a Documentary on Barriers to Education for Girls with Disabilities. The virtual event will be held on July 29th at 9 AM ET/ 4 PM EAT and will feature panels of young women and girls with disabilities in different levels of education. Be part of the conversation by registering here.
We participated in the CIES 2021, where we made a presentation on "Addressing Community Gender Norms that Perpetuate GBV and Prevent School Return for Vulnerable Girls." We were also part of a panel discussion on 'Experiences and Recommendations from Community-Driven Organizations.' as part of the Global launch of Amplify Girl's report on "Understanding The Barriers to Girls' School Return." Read the full report here and watch the recording here.
The Action Foundation team held an intergenerational 'Open Mic' session targeting men in Kibera on 'ending violence against women and girls with disabilities. Moderated by Onyango Otieno, a trauma therapist and writer, the session discussed the role of positive masculinities in ending violence against women & girls. The Open Mic sessions aim to demystify the social norms and perceptions that perpetuate the cycle of violence against women and girls
Our Executive Director co-chaired a panel discussion on Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education in a Global Education Summit Side-Event. The event was convened by the African Early Childhood Network, Global Campaign for Education-US, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD, Save the Children International, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), World Vision, and the International Parliamentary Network for Education. Watch the recording here
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Victor, the Head Occupational Therapist at The Action Foundation, provides therapy services to children with disabilities while building the capacity of the caregivers to offer home-based therapy. He advocates for the rights of children and young people with disabilities and is a male change agent, supporting The Action Foundation to address Gender-Based Violence issues.
Having worked at The Action Foundation for eight years, he has found the experience of seeing children who receive therapy at our centers achieve their milestones fulfilling. Victor has identified the ever-present need for early intervention services for children with disabilities beyond our catchment areas and is optimistic that TAF will grow to expand its service delivery to regions far and beyond.
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