We Launched 🚀
How it went and other updates....
Autoimmune and chronic diseases are largely unexplored. In order to reduce incidences of misdiagnosis and raise awareness of these disorders, strong advocacy and greater awareness are essential. On 19th March 2022, The Farah foundation (TFF) was officially launched by three phenomenal women out to bring change and positive impact in the lives of people living with autoimmune and chronic diseases. The grandeur event was held at Baraza Media Lab who were also the official sponsors of the event.
The fierce trio comprising of passionate, young and energetic women who are ready to change perceptions and demand change; Najda Khan, Strategic Planning Director, Susan Njoka, Development Director and Farah Khaleck, Founder and Chief Inspiring Officer(CIO); who are all warriors suffering from various autoimmune and chronic conditions and like many others suffered in silence as autoimmune and chronic diseases are rare conditions and very difficult to diagnose.
The event was graced by dignitaries including Mrs Rahma Shahbal, Motivational Speaker on women empowerment who graciously contributed a sum of KES 100,000 towards the Foundation.
H.E. Hon Ms Saqlain Syedah, High Commissioner for Pakistan, (Accredited to: Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, UNEP and UN HABITAT) also graced the event and committed to ensuring the Foundation reaches its goals by ensuring networking opportunities with relevant bodies and organisations.
Also present, H.E. Hon Nazlin Umar, Presidential contender, President of the Caucus of Independent candidates in Kenya, Founder and chair of the National Muslim Council of Kenya who committed to mentoring and walking the journey towards policy implementations and ensuring that The Farah Foundation achieves its objectives.
Also in attendance were key personalities from various sectors including Mr. David Makumi, Vice Chair NCDAlliance Kenya, John Gikonyo, Caucus of People Living with NCDs and President of Renal Patients Group, Muthoni Maingi, Country Director Change.Org, Cynthia Mwangi, Radio Manager and Host at Hot96, Joy Doreen Biira, Prominent Media personality, Strategic Communicator.
We held two diverse panels both discussing key issues affecting warriors and the impact in their lives. The panelists included warriors who hail from a wide scope of sectors including Law, Science and Tech, Real Estate, Business and Coaching. Below is a snap of the phenomenal warriors:
And lastly, of course there was cake and some happy tears! The full launch event was covered by SemaBox and will be airing on TFF’s official YouTube channel soon, you should be subscribed already ;)
Special Thanks to our friends:
Official photographer of the event Marcus Olang - Stills By Marcus
MC for the event - David Muriithi
Panel Moderators - Pinky Ghelani and Aisha Khan
Did you know:
In May, there are a number of conditions that are marked for awareness:
May 7 for Ankylosing spondylitis Day (always celebrated on the first Saturday of May)
May 10 for Lupus Day
May 12 for Fibromyalgia Day
May 19 for World IBD Day (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis)
May 20 for Behcet Syndrome Day
May 25 for Thyroid Day
May 30 for Multiple Sclerosis Day
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Heads Up: You can take part in your own way. Here’s how, support warriors this month by wearing purple and tag us (@thefarahfdn) on your posts 💜
Hosted:
Instagram Live session with warriors living with Lupus, Fibromyalgia and Ankylosing spondylitis. The session was insightful as the warriors shared their daily lives living with the conditions, economic struggles with high cost of medication and mental well being. Farah hosted Elsie Nandwa who is living with multiple autoimmune conditions including Fibromyalgia and Mercy Loki who battles Lupus and Fibromyalgia.
Mark Your Calendar:
May 20 at 8:30pm EAT: Hosting a Twitter space forum on mental health. The topic is Loneliness in the Digital Age and we have an amazing panel lineup including Philip Ogola, Founder @spacesforgood (#DigitalHumanitarian), Hamza Hassan, Motivational speaker and Mentor, and our vey own Najda Khan and Farah Khaleck. An important and informative forum you can’t miss out. Add a reminder here, chat soon.
May 26: Hosting an online forum on Doctor & Patient relations by our very own Susan Njoka. Susan will be speaking with Dr. Paul Etau, Harrison Andeko, Catherine Nyambura, Nyambura Wairigi among others. This session will give us a better understanding and information on how to improve and engage better with doctors and vice versa. The session will be pre recorded and published on our YouTube channel immediately after.
Coming Soon:
Farah Khaleck, the founder and the CIO aims to create awareness and eliminating discrimination in different workplaces. This will be achieved by holding engaging workshops that will project warriors living with autoimmune and chronic diseases are just but differently abled and that disability is not an inability.
We may be different but able
More on these workshops will be shared soon. If you would like to partner with us for the workshops, please feel free to contact us.
Spotted:
Asian Weekly’s issue:
Our Director Susan Njoka and NCDAK Chair Mr David Makumi were interviewed on Hot 96 Fm Breakfast show hosted by Jeff Koinange and Nick Odhiambo
L-R: Nick Odhiambo, Susan Njoka, David Makumi, Jeff Koinange
CIO’s Note:
We have embarked on this journey towards change, inclusion, visibility, impact and awareness for warriors. There is a lot that needs to be done, the mountain is high but the spirit is mightier. I believe, we believe and together we can. This is for us
Want to partner with us, let’s talk.
You’re now Updated.