Friends of Ngong Road

We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.

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First Class Honors

This year has been incredible for us in terms of getting exceptional performances from our students and Sallyanne is one of those students who has made us extremely proud. Sallyanne has become  the first student ever since the organization started to get first class honors! This is the highest achievement ever made by a post-secondary student.

Sallyanne joined Kabarak University in May 2018 and was admitted to the Bachelor of Mass Communication. Her end-of-semester results showed that she was excelling in her studies. In September of 2021, she was attached at a local radio station where she worked for three months and December marked the end of her studies. 

In January 2022, Sallyanne was among the first students to join the TechMates program where she specialized in Digital Marketing. She has since been creating content for both the NRCF and FoNR websites as well as managing the content on both social media pages and she helps in training new Digital Marketing TechMates who join the program. Through the program, she joined Lido Nation, a Cardano staking pool, gaining valuable work experience and networking opportunities.

She works for Lido Nation as a content writer, a website translator, and a social media manager and she is also a trainer for mentees who would like to learn more about Blockchain. She experienced the greatest highlight of her time at Lido Nation when she became a co-proposer in a funded proposal.

Sallyanne graduated on the 16th of December 2022 making her a journalist by profession. She received an award during the annual AGM as the first student to get first-class honors. Her role model is Larry Madowo and she hopes to become an equally great journalist. She has set the pace for our post-secondary students and we hope that many will follow suit. Congratulations Sallyanne!  

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Class of 2022 – Covid Class

Despite the many challenges that came with the Covid-19 pandemic, the class of 2022 still pushed through, and were all able to successfully transition from High School (Secondary) to Post-Secondary. This particular cohort was supposed to finish their Secondary education in December 2021 when they were to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams. This however did not happen because of the pandemic. Students’ home stay affected school calendar for entire year.They, therefore, sat for the exams in April 2022. 

Malcom Sam

Much had to be done in order for the students to be ready for their final exams since the schoolwork had to be rushed to create ample time for the exams. They had to study extra hours in order to finish the curriculum and this meant that they were under pressure. Despite all that, the students gave their best. For the first time in the organization, one student received an A grade! This was the record-breaking high grade for candidate, surpassing all possible achievements.

We had a total of 28 students who sat for the exam, 17 boys and 12 girls. The top performer was a boy by the name of Sam and he schooled at Agoro Sare High School in Homa Bay County. Out of the 28 students, we have 7 of them who qualified for a degree course, 14 of them qualified for a diploma course in different colleges, and the remaining 8 qualified for certificate courses. They had a life skills and career guidance session where they settled on the courses they wanted to pursue.

Some of the courses they are pursuing are technical courses such as Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Other courses include social work and community development,  broadcast journalism, and human resource management. We are proud of their achievements so far, and we are wishing them all the best in their coursework! We express gratitude to sponsors and donors for their ongoing support during these students’ crucial life phase.   

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Waiting Students

Frankline

Frankline lives with his parents and siblings in the Kibiria ward of Dagoretti. He is from a very humble background and despite the family’s hardships, Franklin has a positive attitude toward life. He and his siblings don’t have beds of their own, and he is often sent home from school due to his parent’s inability to pay for his school fees. 

Currently he schools at  Alpha Glory Academy where he is a top performer. He loves going to school and dreams of being able to go every day. He says that getting a sponsor will solve this challenge and let him focus on getting good grades. His best subjects are Mathematics and English. Frankline aspires to become a pilot and is therefore taking his studies seriously. His parents hope to see their son finish school, be successful, and become someone of substance in society through education.

Verah

Verah is not just your average 9-year-old girl. She is very helpful especially at home so, during her free time, you will find her washing dishes or helping her younger sister. Verah lives with her parents and her younger sister whom she loves dearly. She loves spending quality time with her family. 

Verah is very disciplined when it comes to her education and performs really well in her schoolwork. She would love to be a doctor someday. This is because she finds joy in helping other people and creating an impact in their lives and their families. She yearns for success and works really hard in order to achieve all the milestones that she has set for herself. Verah’s favorite foods are chicken and fish and she knows how to prepare them!

Verah will be able to join Jagiet Academy when she gets a sponsor. This will maximize her chances of earning the title of a doctor in the future and therefore empower her.

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Two Blockchain Intellects

Sallyanne and Tabitha are our very first students to venture into the Blockchain space. In January 2022, they were among the first students to join the Techmates Program which was launched that same time. They ventured into Digital Marketing and It was through the Techmates Program that they were introduced to work with Lido Nation. Lido Nation is a Cardano staking pool and it also has a website with tons of information for everyday people and newcomers to learn about the Blockchain world.

They signed a 6 months contract with Lido Nation and their work was to translate the articles on the Lido Nation website to Swahili. At the end of the contract, they came up with 3 original articles each related to Blockchain that were published on the Lido Nation website!. After the 6 months contract elapsed, the team from Lido Nation was impressed by the work they had done and they therefore gave them another 4 months contract to become community outreach officers in the Ngong Road Blockchain Lab, the first Blockchain lab in Africa. This lab is a result of funding from Project Catalyst, a series of experiments which seek to generate the highest levels of community innovation. 

Sallyanne was privileged to become a co-proposer with Stephanie and Darlington from Lido Nation in the proposal, “Swahili learn to earn”. The proposal got funded and the project kicked off on the 1st of December 2022, with Sallyanne and Tabitha still being part of the project. It is through them working for Lido Nation that DirectEd got in touch with them through Stephanie to help them with their project that will be launched in Kenya next year in January. DirectEd identifies high-potential students in Kenya and Ethiopia and supports them with the resources and training required to start a successful career as remote software developers. 

They have so far met with Simon Sallstrom, the CEO of DirectEd who is currently in Kenya and Moses Kahure who is the Kenya Lead. They have accompanied Simon and Moses to Kagumo High School and Bishop Gatimu Ngandu High School to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and to also help the team from DirectEd to carry out surveys that are meant for preparation of the curriculum for the program. Sallyanne and Tabitha have also been contracted by Gero Wallet, which is one of the Cardano Wallets, to translate their wallet content from English to Swahili for it to be used in Africa for the Swahili speaking countries. 

The Blockchain space is one that so many people are not familiar with and to have Sallyanne and Tabitha become wits in it is such a great achievement not only to them but to the entire organization. We are so proud of them for this milestone and we hope that they will continue to raise the bar even higher for our students. 

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Graduation Stories

Francis

“Success is and will never be an activity, rather, it is a process”. These were the exact words spoken by Francis on his big day, his graduation day. Francis, our most recent graduate, joined the program in 2010 as a young boy, full of ambitions. He not only completed his studies but also graduated with a degree.

Francis joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in September 2017. He pursued a Bachelor of Science in Zoology, specializing in animal physiology, which entails studying how animals function and their life processes. He has always been a lover of animals. He completed his degree in December 2021 and graduated on the 28th of July 2022.

He was an intern at Bimeda Kenya, a leading global manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of animal health products and veterinary pharmaceuticals, as a sales representative for 3 months. Francis currently has two internship options, to either renew his internship contract with Bimeda or to join one of our employment initiatives, the Techmates program. He hopes to be able to put his skills and knowledge into action and add value to any place that he goes to.

Shaleen

Shaleen has always been a focused and hardworking girl since she joined the program in 2010. Her dedication and resilience finally paid off when she was able to wear a graduation gown, a dream she has always had. On her graduation day, she had lots of emotions, but most importantly, she was proud of herself for being consistent all through her studies.

Shaleen joined the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in May 2018 after completing her high school studies in 2017. She pursued a degree in Bachelor of Commerce and specialized in accounting, an area that she really enjoyed as business studies were among her favorite subjects in high school. The program took 4 years to complete and on the 17th of December 2021, she finally graduated. 

She is currently working as a temporary finance assistant at the Christian Health Association of Kenya  (CHAK). When asked about her aspirations, Shaleen said that she hopes to complete the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) course, earn the accredited title, venture into the audit