Peer Learning on Covid-19

Funders: I must say, all of them extremely supporting and willing to extend whatever support needed including revision of targets, budgets, timelines etc. There has been constant check-ins from them so really appreciate it.

Government Partnerships: LAHI works in deep collaboration with Governments, where our staff is deployed within government offices across India. As of now different states have taken different prevention measures. Since our team members report on daily basis to the government officials, normally, they have to abide by whatever is the government office policy. But in this case, we have allowed an exception and all of them have asked for special permission to work from home.

Work Location: Last week we had switched to 50% of the staff working from office on alternate days to reduce the number of people. However, effective Monday this week we switched to 100% of staff working from home (including grounding of field staff). Only the admin/finance/security staff is attending office in turns (not more than 4 people in the office at a time).

Type of Work: We have had lot of backlog on documentation, IT related projects which are we are taking up now to utilize the time we have. Our employees have also registered for online courses for their areas of interest. We also have the critical design phase of Co-Impact Grant going on - so most of the senior management team is busy with the same.

Support Staff: All the cleaning staff, driver, peons etc are paid in full regardless of their attendance in the office.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Dear Team,

Thank you for coming in today in the morning to discuss the COVID - 19 situation. 'Coronavirus' is a cause for concern for many of us, and it’s important that we all keep ourselves informed of the situation as it evolves, especially in Bhiwandi and Mumbai. We also ask that we all be responsible for our own health and well-being, and that of our teams, families and communities. This email is to capture all the points we discussed in the meeting.

Please read this carefully till the end:

Given that the next week is critical for containing the spread of the virus, it is recommended that the staff works from home for this week at least. We will be regrouping again on Friday 20th, or Monday 23rd March to discuss next steps.

Below are a few points related to communication and protocol around work from home:

What should I do to prepare for work from home:

• The first thing to do is to make a plan for all the tasks that would be completed during this week

• Discuss this with your reporting manager and share it with them by the end of the day today - a day wise plan would be best

• Block your calendar out for tasks you would be doing so that it can help you stay on track

• Make sure your goals are aligned with the organisation's priorities, are measurable and time bound

• Think about tasks that you have been pushing away due to too much of operations - this is a great time to catch up on everything

• Reach out to me or your reporting manager if you cannot think of what to do :)

What are our expectations of teams when we say “WFH”?

• Teams should be online and available for calls/communication between 8:30am-6:30pm (depending on your work time)

• All emails should be responded to within 2 hours with next action steps

• Maintaining a schedule and discipline also helps you stay mentally healthy

• Teams should be prepared to engage in all calls over video - schedule enough time for discussions and feedback

• We will aim to have check-in every alternate day to ensure we are communicating enough

• Please check in with your team once in two days as a group.

What does work from home for the field officer look like?

• For each field officer, please assign a target number of calls to be done and share with the team

• Think of innovative way to communicate and maintain the connect with the community - WhatsApp groups or conference calls - whichever works

• Please make WhatsApp Groups of mothers and add the leadership team in each

• Come up with a list of 4-5 messages that we would be delivering as an organisation

If we do decide to come into the office/go for meetings, what is our travel and conveyance policy?

• Please ensure you are safe, are not going in crowded places

• As much as possible please use non-peak hour during travel

• Travel only when exceptionally necessary

Are there any resources to manage myself and the team when i WFH?

• Here and here are two lovely resources on work from home.

I need to step away from the computer for some time for an urgent work (get groceries, go to doctor etc.) - what do i do?

• WFH is based on trust and integrity. We expect each person to inform their manager in case of any situation like this.

I am not feeling well and will not be working. Should i inform my manager? Would my leave be cut?

• As mentioned, WFH is based on trust and integrity. If you are not working for whatever reason (you are not well, taking care of someone at home, taking rest for a day, etc.) - please get permission from your manager and inform the team so that we do not disturb you.

What precautions should I continue to take regardless of where I work from?

• Take care of your mental health - do not panic, be cautious. There is a lot of information going around, please verify the sources before believing anything.

• Wash your hands frequently

• Avoid touching your face at all costs (we all do it more than we think)

• Cough or sneeze preferably into a tissue that you throw away or into your folded elbow (this is called “practicing respiratory etiquette”) and maintain >1m physical distance with others you do meet

• Practice social distancing; avoid high density social contact unless absolutely necessary

• Recognize most common symptoms: fever, tiredness, dry cough, shortness of breath

I am feeling lonely/someone I know has been tested positive/i am feeling feverish - and don't know what to do.

• Reach out, reach out, reach out! Talk to your managers, reach out to me, the Board, any trusted authority. Please create spaces for COs to reach out to you.

We want to ensure that all of us at FMCH feel supported and empowered with clear information at this time hence, please do keep sharing authentic information on WhatsApp. Have fun working at home. As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Stay safe, team. See you soon :)

Thank you,

Shruthi Iyer

As soon as the first case of COVID19 was detected in Mumbai, we at SNEHA have been taking measures to update our staff and communities about preventive measures to stem the spread of the virus .We’ve put in place a revised work plan till 31st March 2020. In order to reduce physical presence of our teams in communities and avoid travel for our staff, we’ve moved as many activities as possible to phone and online platforms. Our staffs are training our community members and community volunteers through phone / online platforms to increase awareness and sensitize people on preventing the spread of the virus.  We propose to liaise with public system staff on phone for support activities.  

As of now, we will continue to actively manage only high risk cases in person i.e.women and children in medical crisis or facing violence and needing intervention,patients needing procedures for palliative care, high risk children needing referrals etc. keeping in mind adequate safety measures for our staff and beneficiaries.

All community events and campaigns have been indefinitely postponed till the situation improves. All internal training programs have been moved to online platforms.  Our offices will be open only on one designated day each week for critical work.

These are unprecedented times and we are trying our best to serve our communities, while also keeping our staff and communities safe. We would like to acknowledge the donors who have proactively reached out to us, reassuring us of their support in these challenging times. Being a Health NGO, we are conscious of our role in working with the public health system and addressing the needs of the community, keeping safety as a priority.

In case you need any information you may reach out to us on communications@snehamumbai.org.

We pray for the safety of our team and their families, the communities we serve and to you and your family.

Vanessa Souza

Chief Executive Officer

SNEHA  ( S ociety for  N utrition,  E ducation and  H ealth  A ction)

Jai Vakeel is a school for children with intellectual disabilities. They took special care to provide resources to the parents and caregivers of their students as well as their staff. These resources can be found below:

• Resources given to students and parents can be found here in multiple languages.

• Staff were provided work from home guidelines in English and Hindi.

• Staff, students, and parents were also provided with stay at home guidelines, also available in Marathi and English.

Dear All,

As India prepares for the 2^nd/3^rd phase of CORONA VIRUS, we as a responsive and responsible organisation have to see that all of you, our participants and the country remains safe. We need to maintain social distance and see that we stop the spread of the disease.

We have seen some countries control the spread of the disease, as they were more prepared e.g. Singapore, S Korea and China. In most of the Western countries it is out of control and rising exponentially.

It seems to be much more serious than some of the recent diseases like SARs etc.

The critical factor is the replication rate R. R needs to be less than one for the virus to die out. It is obvious to say but if R is greater than one it will continue to grow. At present R is well above 2 in most countries and contagion is exponential as a consequence. The disease is expected to more than double itself every 3-4 days, which means that in just over a month there will be Millions expected to be infected and so on the exponential increase.

Contagion is all about two things. If you are close to someone who has the virus you will breathe in microscopic droplets containing the virus. And secondly the virus happily lives on surfaces. So if you touch a door knob then touch your mouth with your hand its the same thing.

We have taken a few steps and will continue to do so based on the situation. But firstly, for us your safety is supreme.

• The HR will send a detailed mail on the next steps

• The Sr Leadership team ( functional heads/Heads ) have been briefed and aligned on the steps the organisation is taking to support the initiative and stop the spread of the disease. This will be further cascaded through the RMC, FMC and the Districts Manager meeting.

• There is a CORE team which has been set up to actively observe the dynamic external situation and take proactive and necessary steps to try and keep everyone safe and also manage to tide through this unprecedented situation.

So key things for MBites

A. Keep yourself safe

B. Keep the the CYL’s/Volunteers and Participants safe

C. Keep the operations running without risk, where possible.

We must implement a new set of rules from today Monday 16th March. These are not discretionary but mandatory :

• Where ever the government has mandated closure of Educational institutes , we must stop the adolescent and youth sessions.

• The HR team vide a separate email will define our interim ‘Work from Home’ (WFH) policy till 27^th March’20 and beyond which we will review the situation.

• Wherever you are, observe a 1 metre rule ( preferably 2 metres). i.e. keep your distance from other employees/participants. Absolutely no handshakes or touching of any form. This is serious and do practice it.

• We have provided Hand-wash and Sanitisers at all locations and please wash your hands for 20 seconds.

• All non-essential travel must stop.

• All events involving groups of people should be cancelled or postponed.

• And it goes without saying that anyone with any symptoms must stay away.

• If you have come in contact with a carrier or suspect that you may have, self-isolate immediately.

People who ‘Work from home’ must find ways to do their job efficiently. Your Functional Heads and Managers will communicate more on this.

I am counting on each one of you to deal with this situation responsibly !

Best,

Jayant Rastogi

Global CEO