Kenya, like elsewhere in the world, has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.  Whilst the number of infections and recorded deaths has not reached the levels of those seen in Europe or the USA, the restrictions imposed on the country by a government which is doing its best to contain the impact have had severe consequences for all Kenyans.

All schools and learning institutions were closed down in mid-March, along with restaurants, cafes, clubs and bars. Businesses were shut down, people were asked to work from home and follow social distancing measures, wear masks, wash hands regularly and a strictly enforced curfew was imposed from 7pm to 5am every day.

Then followed the suspension of international and domestic flights as well as public movement in and out of Nairobi and Old Town Mombasa. In recent days, an area of Nairobi in which we work in a COSARAF Foundation-supported hub – Eastleigh (Starehe Hub) – has now also been sealed off with no movement in or out as it is a hotspot of COVID infection. Another area, also a COSARAF Foundation-supported Hub called Kawangware, is likely to follow.

Immediately following the closure of schools in mid-March, EACDT and our team of coaches began working on ways to relate our Character Development messages to the COVID-19 crisis.  We began engaging the local communities around the schools in which we work and also those in which the EACDT coaches live to understand how best we could help.

The initiatives we launched following this engagement included:

• producing and displaying Character Cards in the communities;
• personally engaging with people encouraging them to follow the Government guidelines and stressing the eight Character Traits we use;
• arranging quizzes for the small number of pupils that have access to mobile/internet technology;
• arranging community clean-ups of blocked sewers/drains; and,
• producing video clips with pupils, teaches and members of the communities to reinforce the Character through Community message and the Government’s health messages

Our EACDT Team carries out these activities on a daily basis and encourages others to get involved who are nothing to do with our formal programme, including a Kenya Cricket international player who lives in the same area and random folk who are willing to get involved.  Interestingly, this has created the opportunity of actually spreading the word about what EACDT does to a much wider Kenyan audience’ in the local communities close to the schools in which we normally work. It may well prove to be an interesting opportunity to leverage and expand once this pandemic has passed.

The communities in which our team works by and large rely on the informal economy for survival, earning enough each day to survive and feed themselves and their families. Those lucky enough to be in more formal employment commute each day for their work. With most businesses now closed (hopefully temporarily) and with even the informal sector vastly curtailed, many of the families of the pupils we teach and coach are now under critical financial strain.