Dear Friends,
During the past weeks, Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF) has been operating without three long-time employees: Executive Director, Peter Ndungu; Secondary Department Head, Naomi Kamanda, and Accountant, Beatrice Theuri. These three people were suspended on May 1, 2016. We expect to communicate the outcome of the forensic accounting review and their future employment by the end of June, or shortly thereafter.
Interim Management Very Engaged
During this time, NRCF has been led by Tunda Lepore, the Primary Department Head, and a core team of employees. Other members of the team include Joy Obiya (Post-Secondary), Kelvin Thuku (Computer Lab), and Mary Muriu (Secondary). This group has met weekly and I have held bi-weekly Skype updates with them. Our contract finance manager Oscar Musovochi has stepped in to handle accounting matters.
The interim leadership team has done a wonderful job of both continuing operations and making progress on long-standing issues. They have created a procurement process that includes seeking wholesale prices for items we buy in quantity, developed a Food Aid Policy to ensure the neediest families receive food aid, and have paid overdue bills and Term 2 school expenses, with most payments, handled electronically. In addition, they have proposed we extend computer lab hours to support the needs of post-secondary students enrolled in colleges.
New NRCF Management Structure in Development
Although this operating approach has worked smoothly, we will be moving to a new organizational structure in the coming months. Rajpreet Bains, NRCF board chair, has agreed that the Kenyan board will play a more active role in the future and we are working together on what that means. She is a human resources consultant and is well-qualified to define NRCF’s new organizational structure.
There will be many more changes in day-to-day operations in Kenya that will collectively make NRCF a better partner for Friends of Ngong Road. Despite the financial issues we have uncovered in NRCF, we know that the core promises of the program have consistently been fulfilled – students have been in school, have been fed, and have received uniforms and the supplies they need to succeed. This newsletter includes several stories of lives transformed. I look forward to sharing more with you about the changes NRCF intends to implement.
New Website and Newsletter Approach
In the meantime, I invite you to check out our new website ngongroad.org and the exciting stories and updates in this newsletter. We have adopted a new look and approach that involves posting stories more frequently–follow us on Facebook or Twitter to stay in the know.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Paula Meyer
President, Friends of Ngong Road
