Kelvin Thuku, Author at Friends of Ngong Road

September 14, 2019 By Kelvin Thuku 1 Comment

Eric

Eric joined the program in 2007 and was sponsored by Keith and Kathleen Kale. Since a young age, Eric has been a focused, dedicated student and has wanted to make his family proud. However, getting to where he is today hasn’t been easy.

Eric was raised by his mother. His father died when he was young. To make ends meet, Eric’s mother found occasional work near the slums such as working in a salon and making beadwork. With the work, Eric’s mother was able to rent a small two-roomed home in the slums. Home had iron sheets walls, no electricity or running water.

Eric’s mother instilled in her children a strong appreciation for education despite limited material goods.

Eric knew from a young age that his involvement in the Friends of Ngong Road Program, through which he gained access to education, was his vehicle to a transformed life for himself and his family too.

Eric attended G.S.U Primary School, one of our past partner primary schools, St. Joseph’s High School, and then graduated from Kenyatta University with a Degree in purchasing.

Throughout his post-secondary career, Eric was a standout employee at Digital Divide Data, a company Friends of Ngong Road has partnered with in Nairobi with a very similar mission. They provide supplemental income and employment experience for promising secondary school graduates and have included some of our students. Eric’s role at Digital Divide Data was to transcribe handwritten articles to an electronic format for clients such as museums and libraries. In return, Digital Divide Data helped pay for some of Eric’s university tuition.

Upon graduation, Eric was promoted as a full-time Project Manager at Digital Divide Data, managing team and client interactions. He is looking for a new apartment out of the slums. He has made it into the Kenyan middle class.

His sponsors Keith and Kathleen Kale said, “We are very proud of Eric and his accomplishments. By keeping steadily on track, he was able to work his way through university and get his degree. He worked so hard and so many hours, it is inspiring. Congratulations to this fine young man.”

January 1, 2019 By Kelvin Thuku Leave a Comment

Letter from Nairobi-LS Training

Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF) contracted with Success Signature to facilitate the Life Skills Training Program (LSTP) made possible by a Rotary Global Grant led by the South Metro Minneapolis Evenings (SMME) Rotary Club and the Kikuyu Rotary Club of Kenya. The aim of LSTP is to develop self-awareness in both secondary and post-secondary students by training them on carefully selected and essential skills that will aid in their life success.

US volunteers Meghan and Evan Feige developed the training curriculum and tested it in Kenya in early 2017 with December 2016 Form 4 finishers (high school graduates). On November 8th, 2018, at the Lutheran Church, Ngong Road, the organization officially launched the first phase of training, which lasted three weeks.

Present were 94 students (Form 2-4, grades 10-12), NRCF and Success signature staff, parents, Rotary Club of Kikuyu members. Bus fare and meals were provided to all students to ensure they could attend.

The launch brought all the stakeholders together for the introduction to the program. NRCF staff provided the background of the LSTP and the intended benefits to the students. Students got a chance to meet the facilitators. Success Signature staff explained program: topics, timetable, expectations, rules, regulations, pre-training evaluation.

The Lutheran Church on Ngong Road is located next to NRCF offices, offering convenience and ample space with suitable facilities. The training program ran daily from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. All three Forms covered the following topics: communication, conflict management, critical thinking, stress management, leadership, emotional intelligence, personality type, and “Who Am I?” (personal branding), essential skills- time management, money management, study skills, and technology. Both NRCF and SS staff emphasized strict discipline for students, yielding impressive outcomes.

Students were encouraged to participate by awarding the three most valuable, active students each day. Each student was given a token of Kes. 200 (USD $2) by the facilitator. This worked miraculously well and created very healthy competition and a lot of fun. The instructors always reminded students to respect everybody’s contribution while learning.

Learning was fun for all.

At the end of each day, the facilitators would always ask students to speak out feedback based on these questions:

What three things did you learn today?
How will you apply them in your life beginning today?

Forms 2 and 3 offered written feedback by completing a simple questionnaire. We collated and consolidated all the feedback per form, and the results are good.

Quotes from the students:

“This program has really benefited me as I have a better understanding of WHO I AM and hope it will continue to benefit more students.
“When angry, I conflicted with anyone I came across, blaming them yet I was the problem. I have now learned to manage my emotions as well as understand other people’s emotions.”
“I have been in conflict with my father since I did not like to be directed, after the conflict management training, I was able to approach my father and it is after a long time that we sat as a family and laughed together. I am very happy to be in a good relationship with my father”.
“I spent a lot of time on social media and I will now use my time well and research constructive things”.

The success of the LSTP can be attributed to the development of the curriculum by Meghan and Evan, NRCF provision of bus fare and meals, adequate preparation by all the parties involved, effective teamwork, constant communication to review and ensure on-track status and passion, and commitment from all the parties.

We hope that our students are going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

A big thank you to Megan and Evan, Rotary International, FoNR, and Success Signature for making the program possible.

Asante Sana,

Maureen Mulevi
Programme Director