Pamoja Mental Health and Safeguarding Network is a Kenyan-led organisation striving to contribute to the gap within mental health services in Kenya. We facilitate Mental Health & Safeguarding training to build mental resilience at the individual level and strengthen mental health services at the community level.

HISTORY OF PAMOJA

Pamoja Mental Health & Safeguarding Network was founded to address the urgent need for mental health and safeguarding support in communities where stigma, silence, and systemic barriers have long prevented access to care. The name Pamoja, meaning “together” in Kiswahili, reflects the organisation’s belief that resilience, healing, and safeguarding are collective efforts empowering individuals, families, institutions, and communities alike.

The vision for Pamoja was inspired by lived experience. Its founder, Faith, combined her professional expertise as a mental health nurse and safeguarding specialist with personal experiences of bereavement, migration, and domestic abuse. These shaped her conviction that care must be compassionate, culturally sensitive, and trauma informed.

Faith recognised the gap in healthcare systems in her home country of Kenya, where person-centred, safeguarding integrated support was often missing and created Pamoja to fill this gap.From the outset, Pamoja has been guided by a team led by experienced mental health nurses, grounding its work in frontline realities.

Today, Pamoja is now a multicultural, multidisciplinary team of: specialist nurses, safeguarding practitioners, counsellors, occupational therapists, and mental health advocates with backgrounds in; the National Health Service UK, community health services, schools, social care, and grassroots organisations.

Together, they bridge clinical expertise with safeguarding strategies that are both evidence-based and culturally relevant.

Meet The Pamoja Team

  • Faith Henton

    C.E.O of Pamoja, BSc (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health), MA in Safeguarding Adults: Law, Policy & Practice

    Faith was born in Kenya and began her academic journey at Muthaiga Primary School, then progressed through Moi Forces Academy and Lugulu High School. Her Kenyan roots have deeply shaped her perspective on resilience, cultural identity, and the importance of community led healing.

    With over 7 years of experience across the UK's NHS mental health services, Faith has worked in diverse settings including inpatient units, community outreach, safeguarding roles, and therapeutic environments. Her work consistently reflects her deep commitment to compassionate, culturally sensitive, and person centred care particularly for individuals navigating complex and multi-layered mental health needs.

    Faith holds a Master of Arts in Safeguarding Adults: Law, Policy & Practice, A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc), An Advanced Diploma in Counselling. She is also an alumna of: The Developing Aspirant Ethnic Minority Nursing & Midwifery Leaders Programme, The Mary Seacole NHS Leadership Programme. These qualifications and leadership experiences enhance her capacity to drive systemic change and lead with both empathy and strategy in mental health and social care sectors. Faith’s passion is deeply personal shaped by her own lived experiences of bereavement, migration, and domestic abuse. These formative events have inspired her tireless work to: Raise mental health awareness, Champion inclusive, trauma informed safeguarding practices, Empower others to heal and lead with resilience.

    Through Pamoja, Faith fuses clinical expertise with lived experience, aiming to restore voices and rebuild strength in individuals and communities. Her work is underpinned by a powerful ethos she lives and teaches: "Never give up."

  • Katrine San Jose

    Pamoja Deputy, BSc (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health)

    Katrine San Jose is an experienced Registered Mental Health Nurse with over eight years of service across adult acute units, community mental health teams, forensic secure settings, and general hospitals. With additional training in minor injuries and physical health, she offers a truly holistic approach to mental healthcare compassionate, person centred, and grounded in clinical excellence.

    Katrine was born in Philippines, lived and studied in UK and worked within NHS organisation, where she gained first hand insight into how culture shapes the way mental health is understood, expressed, and treated. This cross cultural experience deepened her commitment to culturally sensitive care, and now informs her work with African communities bringing global perspective while honouring local values, traditions, and identities.

    Her personal journey with PTSD has given her not just clinical knowledge but also lived understanding, enabling her to connect authentically with those facing emotional distress. She is passionate about safeguarding, trauma informed practice, and breaking down mental health stigma particularly in communities where silence and shame still surround these issues. As a former clinical educator and mentor, Katrine continues to empower future healthcare professionals with the skills, empathy, and cultural awareness needed to create safe, respectful spaces for healing. Through every aspect of her work, she shares a powerful message: healing is possible no one should walk the journey alone.

  • Ashley Majaya

    BSc (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health)

    Ashley is a seasoned mental health professional with over 27 years of clinical experience across the NHS, private sector, and charitable organizations in the UK. His work spans adolescent inpatient services, adult acute care, forensic psychiatry, and community mental health always with a focus on recovery, resilience, and safe reintegration. Ashley has led teams at ward and hospital levels, and mentored students entering the profession, championing excellence and compassion in mental health care.

    A firm believer in holistic support and safeguarding, Ashley’s practice reflects Pamoja’s mission to empower individuals and communities through culturally sensitive, evidence-based care. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, and academically grounded through his studies in Scotland, United Kingdom, Ashley brings a distinctive blend of global insight and cultural sensitivity to his practice.

  • Claire Fuller

    BA International Development, MSc Occupational Therapy

    Claire is a qualified Occupational Therapist with over 15 years of experience across health, social care, and educational settings. She has worked in: forensic and acute mental health services, learning disability services, and special education schools. Claire is also a certified EcoSensory Therapy Practitioner and has a deep commitment to promoting wellbeing through nature connection.

    Originally from the UK, Claire has travelled and lived extensively overseas, cultivating a strong cross-cultural perspective that informs her therapeutic approach.Claire has contributed to the development of a youth empowerment programme across the Middle East and North Africa, and volunteered alongside Occupational Therapists in Kenya and other global locations to expand her clinical expertise. Claire’s work takes a compassionate, collaborative and holistic approach to empower individuals and groups to overcome barriers, and live fulfilling lives within their communities.