The Cisarua Learning COVID-19 Strategy
We are so proud of how well the community in Indonesia has managed their time in lockdown. Now well over three months!
The teachers and managers have taken on extra community roles, creating a phone tree to connect the community, monitor any health issues and provide psycho-social support. So far there are no cases, but we are taking COVID-19 very seriously. The refugee community is at greater risk and have very little on no access to medical assistance. Thanks to everyone out there for your support.
Please find some short stories from lockdown and our COVID-19 strategy below.
CRLC COVID 19 Strategy
10 April 2020
The world is experiencing an unprecedented global pandemic, and this is affecting the refugee community in Indonesia. This document outlines our approach to the current, rapidly changing, situation.
Summary
The Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre (CRLC) is a refugee-led institution which, over seven years, has developed a deep knowledge of refugee situation in Indonesia.
CRLC and parent body, Cisarua Learning (CL) thoroughly understands the vulnerability of refugees during COVID19 crisis and will continue to follow our community and education-based approach in this unprecedented situation. CRLC will take all possible steps and measures to support immediate and surrounding communities through educating parents, students, teachers, management team and other refugee community members.
The focus of CRLC will remain with education and we will work to educate the community about prevention of the COVID19 contraction and ensure the refugee community has access to reliable and up-to-date information. CRLC teachers and management team will extend psychosocial support to the parents who are locked behind social isolation. We encourage and support co-ordination between refugee-led education centres in Indonesia, particularly those in Cisarua.
CRLC will share and act according to government officials and UNHCR instructions and continue to be a bridge between refugees and authorities.
Cisarua Learning will support CRLC to transform their activities after COVID-19 pandemic.
Purpose and actions
The purpose of new strategy for CRLC is to respond to novel COVID-19 pandemic. This strategy will serve as a guideline for teachers and management team to undertake activities and responsibilities during this crisis.
COVID-19 strategy for CRLC is to ensures that refugee community (consist its students, their parents and siblings, teachers and management team with their family) are aware of the standard measures that could help them to prevent COVID-19 contraction. Also, to provide reliable information from authorities and to avoid spread of rumours and misinformation in time of uncertainty.
CRLC will not let current situation to deprive refugee children and other students of their right to education. CRLC teachers will organize online classes students of all ages.
Finally, this strategy will guide CRLC and its leadership to act as a bridge between Indonesia authorities, organisations (including UNHCR, JRS, CWS) and refugee community in Cisarua. This will encourage CRLC to play a coordinating and liaising role among other refugee learning centres, associations, sports clubs and community groups.
Key Goals
Ensuring community health
Community’s health is CL’s prime concern. CRLC will take lead to establish a mechanism to ensure that every single community member has access to quality information and consistent messaging about COVID19. This communication mechanism will ensure that the community members understand the messages and undertake precautionary recommendations.
Our communication will ensure the women are actively participating and feel free to raise their voice and their concerns are heard.
How will communication mechanism function?
CRLC Manager will create and administer two separate Viber (common communication app among refugees) groups; one for parents, and the other for teachers and management team.
In the parents’ group, CRLC manager and assistant manager will share reliable and trustworthy news, updates and advices, mainly from Indonesian authorities, World Health Organisation and other reputable sources. This platform will serve as point of reference when the community members encounter fake news, rumours, and religious and cultural/traditional messages which are mostly inaccurate. Parents can ask questions and raise issues in the group so that CRLC Manager could clarify to all parents.
On the other hand, 26 (out 27) team members at CRLC will actively engage in direct contact with 48 families and other students. Each member is assigned 2-4 families to get regular update through phone-calls. They will encourage families to update them about their health issues, any unusual incident or symptoms to their surrounding with potential link to COVID19. They will also make sure that parents are taking care of them and their family, following recommended measures, and if necessary, will translate the messages to the parents. Finally, teachers and management team will report back to manager if any of parents have shared any serious issue. Otherwise, they will update their activities on teachers’ group.
Ensuring community participation and psychosocial support
CRLC will make sure that the teachers and management team play an active role in the community during COVID19 emergency. As volunteers, CRLC teachers and management team will broaden their area of responsibility to include a community-level psychosocial support role.
Regular contacts may potentially be the window for parents and older students to share their situation during social isolation, seek advice and raise their concerns to relevant authorities. Having this window will be one of the positive aspects for the community members during crisis time. Therefore, all the teachers and management team are encouraged to forge a relationship with their contact persons based on empathy, trust and mutual understanding of the situation.
Manager and assistant managers bear huge responsibilities in this situation. They are required to be ‘virtual parents’ of the community, be inclusive, patient, active listener, a loud and clear voice for their community to relevant authorities, problem solver and effective representatives. They both provide equal opportunities to all community members to participate on all platforms.
Ensuring continuation of education
CRLC will not be discouraged by social-distancing measures. The teachers will start online teaching using virtual classrooms via Zoom, google and other platforms. Selection of these platforms will be based on age groups, accessibility and efficiency.
General Educational Development (GED) classes will run again. 15 Australian teachers will get online to teach 36 refugee students via Zoom. Jacqui Gately from Australia will manage teachers in Australia and CRLC teacher, Ziagul Noori will manage the students in Cisarua. CRLC and Jacqui will work for expansion and efficiency of the program.
Challenges
Cultural and religious challenges
Predominant number of the community members are ethnic Hazara refugees from Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are semi-tribal and Shi’ite Muslims. Most of them strictly follow their cultural and religious practices wherever they go.
Cultural practices such as funeral, parties and gathering in backdrop of tribal settings, excursions and joint family system are just few of the cultural norms that could increase the risk of spread of COVID-19 in the community.
While group prayers, special rituals during month of Ramadhan (April), Eid celebrations, Moharram (in August) commemoration, charity meals are the examples of religious events that attract big number of participants. Contraction and spread of COVID-19 is highly likely during these cultural and religious setting.
Educating community members about abandoning their tribal and religious norms and adopting social isolation measures will be a massive challenge for CRLC. The team could face certain level of resistance from the community members. Therefore, CRLC teachers and management are required to exercise the best of their personality to turn things around.
Impacts on human resource
Communication strategy will add on CRLC’s 27 teachers and management team’s existing responsibilities. Considering the unprecedented and significant health threat posed by COVID-19, the unconventional measures is the need of the day. CL and CRLC has ensured that our teachers and team members are ready to step up and take more responsibilities in order to prevent or reduce catastrophic loss of life.
Therefore, COVID-19 will not have significant impact on CRLC’s human resource. In an emergency online meeting, held on 25 March 2020, all 27 members have agreed to play more active role during COVID-19 pandemic.
However, COVID-19 situation will have a significant impact on CL’s human resource. One of CL’s Australia board members is focal point to liaise with CRLC, national and regional organisations on day-to-day basis. Considering vast experience in refugee setting and global and regional advocacy arena, CL is required to play a proactive role during COVID-19 crisis.
Impact on budget
Transition from traditional physical classes to online will require equipment and other resources. CRLC has 17 teachers and assistant teachers who teach 265 students in 21 separate classes (based on their age groups). Many of these teachers need to use laptop to prepare and deliver their online classes. Therefore, purchase of laptops and other equipment will be a priority and need a big chunk of budget.
So far, CL have approved the purchase of 5 x laptop computers and will explore purchasing more as demand dictates and the budget allows.
We approved the purchase and distribution of sanitary kits including sanitiser and other materials for the community members.
Despite new expenses, CRLC budget does not change dramatically. CL have already paid rent on the buildings for the year. Other main expense is CRLC team’s stipend. Meanwhile, CL representatives are unable to travel and there are some travel costs saved. Closure of CRLC building will save expenses such as building maintenance, stationery and other day-to-day purchases.
Opportunities
Partnerships
Meaningful partnership on country level, with local/national government bodies, UNHCR in Jakarta, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Church World Service (CWS). In coming days, these entities will require to have robust contacts with refugees, particularly living in urban settings. CRLC is be an effective partner to bridge any grassroot-level communication with refugees.
Building on CRLC leadership and experience, CL and CRLC can be an important part of Asia-Pacific region. CL and CRLC will actively participate COVID-19 related discussions with other NGOs. These platforms will be an opportunity to advocate for refugee inclusion on national healthcare systems, raise refugee voice and concerns and deliver messages from these platforms to refugee community in Cisarua.
In Australia context, CL will uphold to its approach to advocate for refugee education and inclusion. Through this approach, CL intend to attract more support for students from CRLC and other refugee-led educational institutes. Online educational settings have paved way for broader participation of teachers from Australia to teach refugee students in Indonesia. COVID-19 is an opportunity to forge an effective partnership of Australians with refugees.
Community mobilisation
Novel COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that could shake refugee community to the core. If managed well by CRLC, this crisis could be turned into an opportunity to mobilise community on common value of humanity, solidarity, shared responsibility, friendship, sharing and empathy.
Despite being deprived of certain rights and being vulnerable, refugee have much to offer to each other. Their generosity, empathy, time and energy can be much needed psychosocial support to their peers on the other hand.
Therefore, CLRC is extending its capabilities to provide opportunities for its teachers and management team to discover their potential character. Through subtle actions, such as distributions of hygiene kits, CRLC will mobilise potential leaders among parents. These parents will receive and redistribution of items to other parents. Small actions and gestures like this will create sense of sharing, responsibility, importance of active community membership.
CRLC COVID 19 Strategy
10 April 2020
The world is experiencing an unprecedented global pandemic, and this is affecting the refugee community in Indonesia. This document outlines our approach to the current, rapidly changing, situation.
Summary
The Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre (CRLC) is a refugee-led institution which, over seven years, has developed a deep knowledge of refugee situation in Indonesia.
CRLC and parent body, Cisarua Learning (CL) thoroughly understands the vulnerability of refugees during COVID19 crisis and will continue to follow our community and education-based approach in this unprecedented situation. CRLC will take all possible steps and measures to support immediate and surrounding communities through educating parents, students, teachers, management team and other refugee community members.
The focus of CRLC will remain with education and we will work to educate the community about prevention of the COVID19 contraction and ensure the refugee community has access to reliable and up-to-date information. CRLC teachers and management team will extend psychosocial support to the parents who are locked behind social isolation. We encourage and support co-ordination between refugee-led education centres in Indonesia, particularly those in Cisarua.
CRLC will share and act according to government officials and UNHCR instructions and continue to be a bridge between refugees and authorities.
Cisarua Learning will support CRLC to transform their activities after COVID-19 pandemic.
Purpose and actions
The purpose of new strategy for CRLC is to respond to novel COVID-19 pandemic. This strategy will serve as a guideline for teachers and management team to undertake activities and responsibilities during this crisis.
COVID-19 strategy for CRLC is to ensures that refugee community (consist its students, their parents and siblings, teachers and management team with their family) are aware of the standard measures that could help them to prevent COVID-19 contraction. Also, to provide reliable information from authorities and to avoid spread of rumours and misinformation in time of uncertainty.
CRLC will not let current situation to deprive refugee children and other students of their right to education. CRLC teachers will organize online classes students of all ages.
Finally, this strategy will guide CRLC and its leadership to act as a bridge between Indonesia authorities, organisations (including UNHCR, JRS, CWS) and refugee community in Cisarua. This will encourage CRLC to play a coordinating and liaising role among other refugee learning centres, associations, sports clubs and community groups.
Key Goals
Ensuring community health
Community’s health is CL’s prime concern. CRLC will take lead to establish a mechanism to ensure that every single community member has access to quality information and consistent messaging about COVID19. This communication mechanism will ensure that the community members understand the messages and undertake precautionary recommendations.
Our communication will ensure the women are actively participating and feel free to raise their voice and their concerns are heard.
How will communication mechanism function?
CRLC Manager will create and administer two separate Viber (common communication app among refugees) groups; one for parents, and the other for teachers and management team.
In the parents’ group, CRLC manager and assistant manager will share reliable and trustworthy news, updates and advices, mainly from Indonesian authorities, World Health Organisation and other reputable sources. This platform will serve as point of reference when the community members encounter fake news, rumours, and religious and cultural/traditional messages which are mostly inaccurate. Parents can ask questions and raise issues in the group so that CRLC Manager could clarify to all parents.
On the other hand, 26 (out 27) team members at CRLC will actively engage in direct contact with 48 families and other students. Each member is assigned 2-4 families to get regular update through phone-calls. They will encourage families to update them about their health issues, any unusual incident or symptoms to their surrounding with potential link to COVID19. They will also make sure that parents are taking care of them and their family, following recommended measures, and if necessary, will translate the messages to the parents. Finally, teachers and management team will report back to manager if any of parents have shared any serious issue. Otherwise, they will update their activities on teachers’ group.
Ensuring community participation and psychosocial support
CRLC will make sure that the teachers and management team play an active role in the community during COVID19 emergency. As volunteers, CRLC teachers and management team will broaden their area of responsibility to include a community-level psychosocial support role.
Regular contacts may potentially be the window for parents and older students to share their situation during social isolation, seek advice and raise their concerns to relevant authorities. Having this window will be one of the positive aspects for the community members during crisis time. Therefore, all the teachers and management team are encouraged to forge a relationship with their contact persons based on empathy, trust and mutual understanding of the situation.
Manager and assistant managers bear huge responsibilities in this situation. They are required to be ‘virtual parents’ of the community, be inclusive, patient, active listener, a loud and clear voice for their community to relevant authorities, problem solver and effective representatives. They both provide equal opportunities to all community members to participate on all platforms.
Ensuring continuation of education
CRLC will not be discouraged by social-distancing measures. The teachers will start online teaching using virtual classrooms via Zoom, google and other platforms. Selection of these platforms will be based on age groups, accessibility and efficiency.
General Educational Development (GED) classes will run again. 15 Australian teachers will get online to teach 36 refugee students via Zoom. Jacqui Gately from Australia will manage teachers in Australia and CRLC teacher, Ziagul Noori will manage the students in Cisarua. CRLC and Jacqui will work for expansion and efficiency of the program.
Challenges
Cultural and religious challenges
Predominant number of the community members are ethnic Hazara refugees from Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are semi-tribal and Shi’ite Muslims. Most of them strictly follow their cultural and religious practices wherever they go.
Cultural practices such as funeral, parties and gathering in backdrop of tribal settings, excursions and joint family system are just few of the cultural norms that could increase the risk of spread of COVID-19 in the community.
While group prayers, special rituals during month of Ramadhan (April), Eid celebrations, Moharram (in August) commemoration, charity meals are the examples of religious events that attract big number of participants. Contraction and spread of COVID-19 is highly likely during these cultural and religious setting.
Educating community members about abandoning their tribal and religious norms and adopting social isolation measures will be a massive challenge for CRLC. The team could face certain level of resistance from the community members. Therefore, CRLC teachers and management are required to exercise the best of their personality to turn things around.
Impacts on human resource
Communication strategy will add on CRLC’s 27 teachers and management team’s existing responsibilities. Considering the unprecedented and significant health threat posed by COVID-19, the unconventional measures is the need of the day. CL and CRLC has ensured that our teachers and team members are ready to step up and take more responsibilities in order to prevent or reduce catastrophic loss of life.
Therefore, COVID-19 will not have significant impact on CRLC’s human resource. In an emergency online meeting, held on 25 March 2020, all 27 members have agreed to play more active role during COVID-19 pandemic.
However, COVID-19 situation will have a significant impact on CL’s human resource. One of CL’s Australia board members is focal point to liaise with CRLC, national and regional organisations on day-to-day basis. Considering vast experience in refugee setting and global and regional advocacy arena, CL is required to play a proactive role during COVID-19 crisis.
Impact on budget
Transition from traditional physical classes to online will require equipment and other resources. CRLC has 17 teachers and assistant teachers who teach 265 students in 21 separate classes (based on their age groups). Many of these teachers need to use laptop to prepare and deliver their online classes. Therefore, purchase of laptops and other equipment will be a priority and need a big chunk of budget.
So far, CL have approved the purchase of 5 x laptop computers and will explore purchasing more as demand dictates and the budget allows.
We approved the purchase and distribution of sanitary kits including sanitiser and other materials for the community members.
Despite new expenses, CRLC budget does not change dramatically. CL have already paid rent on the buildings for the year. Other main expense is CRLC team’s stipend. Meanwhile, CL representatives are unable to travel and there are some travel costs saved. Closure of CRLC building will save expenses such as building maintenance, stationery and other day-to-day purchases.
Opportunities
Partnerships
Meaningful partnership on country level, with local/national government bodies, UNHCR in Jakarta, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Church World Service (CWS). In coming days, these entities will require to have robust contacts with refugees, particularly living in urban settings. CRLC is be an effective partner to bridge any grassroot-level communication with refugees.
Building on CRLC leadership and experience, CL and CRLC can be an important part of Asia-Pacific region. CL and CRLC will actively participate COVID-19 related discussions with other NGOs. These platforms will be an opportunity to advocate for refugee inclusion on national healthcare systems, raise refugee voice and concerns and deliver messages from these platforms to refugee community in Cisarua.
In Australia context, CL will uphold to its approach to advocate for refugee education and inclusion. Through this approach, CL intend to attract more support for students from CRLC and other refugee-led educational institutes. Online educational settings have paved way for broader participation of teachers from Australia to teach refugee students in Indonesia. COVID-19 is an opportunity to forge an effective partnership of Australians with refugees.
Community mobilisation
Novel COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that could shake refugee community to the core. If managed well by CRLC, this crisis could be turned into an opportunity to mobilise community on common value of humanity, solidarity, shared responsibility, friendship, sharing and empathy.
Despite being deprived of certain rights and being vulnerable, refugee have much to offer to each other. Their generosity, empathy, time and energy can be much needed psychosocial support to their peers on the other hand.
Therefore, CLRC is extending its capabilities to provide opportunities for its teachers and management team to discover their potential character. Through subtle actions, such as distributions of hygiene kits, CRLC will mobilise potential leaders among parents. These parents will receive and redistribution of items to other parents. Small actions and gestures like this will create sense of sharing, responsibility, importance of active community membership.
Simultaneously, communication mechanisms are in fact platforms for the community to think and act collectively. They will talk about shared concerns, exploring new cultural and religious limits.