ICRI Africa - Building Bridges
ICRI-Africa’s role is that of “building bridges" at the community, national and international levels. As we support grassroots organizations, we tell the world about it and ask for the international community to support those who work most closely in the community.

We see the hope for children and families lying in the hands of those who work most closely with the community. Our work is thus, to help grassroots organizations so that they can continue to provide their very important services and to help them improve the quality of their services.

Our projects include:
Grassroots Advocacy Project (GAP)
The GAP Project supports the efforts of grassroots organizations by providing capacity building, training, infrastructure development and resource and information sharing.

  • We provide capacity building through training, technical assistance and resource provision to grassroots organizations and faith based groups.
  • We bring together NGOs working on similar issues or similar populations allowing them to share information, develop networks and provide comprehensive services.
  • We organize for speakers, trainers and specialists to meet with our grassroots partners to motivate, train and share their experiences.

    • Classes offered:

    Courses
    CR1 Dynamics of NGO Management
    CR2 Fund Development
    CR3 Strategic Planning for NGOs
    CR4 Sustainability Assessment and Planning
    CR5 Marketing and Public Relations for NGOs
    CR6 Grant Writing
    CR7 Volunteer Management – for NGOs and for volunteers
    CR8 Professional Ethics in NGO’s
    CR9 Financial Management and Reporting
    CR10 Monitoring and Evaluation
    CR11 Data Collection and Analysis – with special emphasis on how to conduct a Needs Assessment

    Training Calendar – Coming soon
    Donor Training and Advising
    Our program is founded on the principle of sustainable development from the ground up. We therefore believe that donors should support the efforts of grassroots organizations. We provide the infrastructure that will allow donors to engage with and fund grassroots:

  • We recruit, train and advice donors on the importance of funding grassroots organizations and the need to engage directly with groups on the ground.
  • ICRI-Africa and its partners have developed a Traveling Giving Circle that provides international donors with the opportunity to travel and engage with grassroots organizations in Africa.
  • ICRI-Africa facilitates the engagement of tourists visiting Africa to meet with and engage with grassroots organizations.


    • Traveling Giving Circle
    The Clarence Foundation, the Falconer Group and the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) are excited to announce the launch of a new initiative called the Traveling Giving Circle to Kenya. The goal of this program is to develop a network of individuals and families who wish to proactively invest their time, talents and resources in support of promoting sustainable development at the grassroots, thus supporting communities in Kenya to take the lead in solving their own problems, transforming their own communities and building strong, healthy and productive futures for themselves and their country.


    What is a Giving Circle?
    A giving circle might best be described as the philanthropic equivalent of a book club. A group of donors agrees to pool its time, talent and resources to work together on the process of making international grants. Our giving circles also have a strong educational component. Meetings feature guest presentations from leaders in the international philanthropy field who help to inform the group's hands-on grantmaking process. We also provide members a written learning curriculum that includes articles and resources regarding international giving and/or specific information about a topic or world region. At the end of the grantmaking cycle, the group must apply what it has learned to make a decision as to how it will distribute its pooled funds from a field of candidates provided by The Clarence Foundation, ICRI and its program partners.


    What is the Traveling Giving Circle?
    The Traveling Giving Circle advances the giving circle model to the next level by providing donors with the direct experience to dialogue and partner with grassroots activists on the ground, thus combining first-hand learning from the activists with an intensive group process for grant decision-making. This core group of donors will comprise individuals and/or families that are interested in proactive engagement with and advocacy for grassroots organizations in Africa. The Traveling Giving Circle is open to people from all over the US and Europe. Marc Manashil (The Clarence Foundation - USA) and Maggie Kamau (ICRI-Africa - Kenya) will be the points of contact with all of the members.

    The program will revolve around a 10-day trip to Kenya, which will combine tourism with visits to a pre-selected group of grassroots organizations. These meetings will include in-depth learning about the needs of such organizations and an active dialogue between the donor members of the giving circle and the grassroots activists. Donors will also sit in and participate in the workshops being provided by ICRI-Africa. Donors will get a chance to visit with the activists and see first-hand the programs that they offer and the people they serve. Following this period of listening and learning, donors and activists will participate in a collaborative grant decision-making process, discussing how a grant from the group of donors might be of greatest benefit to the programs and/or the capacity of the grassroots organizations. ICRI-A will continue to be the liaison between the grassroots organizations and the donors. Updates on the grantees will be provided to donors through ICRI-A.


    Prospective Grantees
    The prospective grant recipients will be selected in advance by ICRI-Africa through its Grassroots Advocacy Projects (GAP). The prospective grant recipients will receive training from ICRI-A on proposal development and then submit an initial request to the giving circle donors prior to the trip, which will later be discussed in face-to-face interactions between the donors and prospective grantees. The trip will be preceded by 2-3 conference call meetings among the participating donors to get acquainted and initially review the grant requests.

    Issues to be considered: In order to be considered, the candidates must be grassroots Kenyan organizations. We are particularly interested in supporting activists who directly advance the welfare of children, youth and families at the grassroots level and who promote environmental justice and human rights. In other words, we seek to support agents of change and visionaries who are addressing the root causes of problems rather than only picking up the pieces of a broken system. By providing support to such remarkable people and organizations, we will be contributing to systemic positive and broad based social change in Kenya.


    Membership
    Members of the traveling giving circle will come from all over the United States and Europe. Each participant will need to commit to the entire length of the trip and make a minimum financial commitment. By the end of the trip, the donors will allot their pooled funds among some or all of the grassroots organizations visited.

    Donors will also commit to follow-up after the trip to raise awareness and the involvement of other donors. Examples of follow-up activities will include organizing of a fundraiser, public presentations, formation of a giving circle, etc.
    Community Incubator
    The Community Incubator Program is a dynamic program that nurtures and promotes the growth and development of a community of grassroots organizations working in one geographic area who share the vision of improving conditions for families and children in their community.

    The community groups meet and work together to brainstorm, collect data, network, share knowledge and ideas on how to address the issues facing their community. Through the Community Incubator, the groups are able to synergize their efforts for the greater good of their community. The sharing takes place in the form of workshops, information gathering, one-on-one coaching, guest speakers, collaborative grant-seeking, and more.

  • ICRI-Africa is involved in working directly with communities facing health issues such as HIV/AIDS, child health and education
  • ICRI-Africa uses a strength based approach to help communities find solutions to their problems
  • ICRI-Africa assists the grassroots groups to conduct community assessments including identifying community assets and resources, identifying gaps in services and establishing the quality and accessibility of services.



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    Early Childhood Training for Caregivers
    ICRI-Africa ECE program targets caregivers working with children 0-5 in low income areas and in the slum areas. We are also in the process of developing a training program for children of prisoners at the Langata Women’s Prison in Nairobi.

  • Our Program advocates for the needs of children 0-5.
  • We target lower middle class and slums Early Childhood Education Programs.
  • We train Early Childhood Providers working in low income areas



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    FARIJI Prison Partnership


    Forum for the Advancement of Reforms In Justice Institutions
    In 2002, when the newly formed National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) came to power, it initiated prison reforms. These included an open door policy where prison gates were opened to NGOs and other organizations to offer whatever programs they had to assist the prisoners and their dependents. Since then, there have been a number of programs introduced in some prisons around the country. These programs have been initiated by individual NGOs and other groups interested in helping prisoners and their dependants.

    The Need:
    While the open door policy has provided opportunities for some prisoners both during their time in prison and upon their release from prison, a well coordinated prison initiative has not been developed to assure replicability and scaling up of programs throughout the prison system. For example, the remote parenting program at the Langata Women’s Prison that allows prisoners to visit with their families and friends during the school holidays has been a great success. This program has not been replicated in other prisons. Another example is the newly established halfway house through the Tabasamu Trust. A drama therapy program that allows the prisoners to tell their story through drama thus allowing them to address their past and move forward was also successfully piloted at the Langata Women’s prison. These projects can be replicated in a number of prisons throughout the country if a well coordinated prison reform can be established.

    Solution:
    The Fariji Partnership is a coalition of organizations working in the prison with the goal of to provide a platform where organizations, prison staff and policy makers working in the prisons can work together to synergize and scale up the prison reforms. The Consortium will act as the facilitator in:

    a) Documenting the ongoing prison reforms, best practices, lessons learned and “How To Manuals” in prisons throughout the country
    b) Providing capacity building, networking and infrastructure development for current groups working in the prison
    c) Providing capacity building for prison staff
    d) Identifying the gaps in service delivery and seeking ways to fill the gaps
    e) Advocating and educating policy makers and the public on the rights of the prisoners and their dependants

    Support for the Issue:
    The XYZ Consortium project has been approved by the Commissioner of Prisons and by several Senior Assistant Commissioners of Prisons who see the consortium as a necessary next step in the ongoing prison reforms. The consortium has also been supported by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights which has further included one of its staff members as a member of the XYZ Consortium Executive Board.

    Outcomes:
    The XYZ Consortium provides an opportunity for the institutionalization of the ongoing prison reforms in a way that will reduce recidivism of ex-prisoners, reduce crimes and allow ex-prisoners to re-enter into society as healthy and productive members of society. Without the Consortium, the prison reforms will not be scaled up and just a few prisoners will benefit from the prison reforms thus continuing with the high level of recidivism of ex-prisoners.