2019 November Archives - Friends of Ngong Road

November 11, 2019 By Kelvin Thuku Leave a Comment

Letter from Nairobi

Currently, all primary and secondary (Form One to Form Three) students in Nairobi are on a long holiday that will end when schools resume on 6th January 2020. Grade (class) 8 students took the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams on 31st October 2019 while the final high school examination (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, or KCSE) for Form 4 (seniors) began on 4th November 2019 and will end towards the end of November. Their respective schools had prepared the students to tackle both key exams confidently.

During the long holiday, the students who are not sitting for exams will be taking part in various activities ranging from life skills sessions, career guidance and counseling, sexual/reproductive health training, menstrual hygiene education, drug use, and abuse sensitization sessions, group discussions, library sessions, and computer studies. The activities will take place concurrently with each class tackling a different area. High school students will learn life skills, group discussions, sexual/reproductive health, computer studies, and career counseling and mentorship. Primary school children will enjoy the library and computer studies.

We conduct drug use and abuse sensitization sessions for the upper classes (Grades 6 to 8). Girls in the upper classes receive menstrual hygiene education. During this time, the children are happily receiving breakfast and lunch which couldn’t have been available were it not for your generosity towards NRCF. Due to extended holiday periods, we have expanded the Saturday Program to provide children with activities that enhance their talents.

We divide sessions into four broad categories that aim to foster the holistic development of children. This involves psychosocial health (yoga, cheering, singing, fun activities, brain games, talent shows, and team building). Other areas are cognitive development (arts and crafts, book reading, debates and presentations, crosswords and puzzles), and social development (clubs and societies, e.g. drama, music, scouts, dance club, journalism, and St. John ambulance). Finally, physical development (soccer, Katie, taekwondo, soccer, rugby, volleyball, handball, and athletics). On Saturdays, children also enjoy a well-balanced lunch that is part of the nutrition program.

The highlight of the holiday season is the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all NRCF stakeholders (children, parents/guardians, local community, NRCF staff, volunteers, and board members). During this meeting, we share our achievements, successes, challenges, lessons learned, and plans for the coming year. We normally share Christmas lunch as a family on this occasion. Families get Christmas packs with chicken, maize & wheat flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar, beans, veggies, and fruit.

We have scheduled the event for December 7th, 2019, in Nairobi. This year’s AGM is special since we will be launching our new entity – Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF). We will be transitioning from an “Association” to a “Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)”. The children are excited as they look forward to the event since it will be joined by the founder and President of Friends of Ngong Road, Paula Meyer. After the celebration children normally break for the Christmas holidays. Some travel to their rural areas to celebrate with their extended families. Others remain behind to continue benefiting from what the program offers normally such as library and computer lab access.

Thank you all for creating a big impact in the lives of these once desperate and hopeless children in Nairobi who have been given an opportunity to transform their lives.

Sincerely,

Maureen Mulievi
Programme Director
Ngong Road Children’s Foundation

November 7, 2019 By Paula Meyer 1 Comment

Note from Paula

Children grow up one day at a time and while it is happening, it can feel so very slow. Friends of Ngong Road is finishing its thirteenth year of operations and because of that, we have a large number of students who are now completing their education and launching careers. In September and October 2019, twenty young people got new jobs. Here is a sampling…

Selina, Mary, Cynthia, Lydia, and Ann got jobs as beauticians or nail technicians
Stephen is working as a freelance computer technician
Brian is working in the family business as a meat supplier
Victor and Wycliffe are both working as entrepreneurs
Hellen is working in a health care clinic, registering patients
Margaret and Patrick are both working for Ngong Road Children’s Foundation
Clinton is working as a refrigerator technician and Shammah as a plumber
Vivian got a job in food service at Kenyatta National Hospital

One of the students my husband and I sponsored completed her education about four years ago and informed me over the weekend that she is finally going to officially get her diploma in December. Another that we sponsored will also get his diploma in December and is working as a civil engineer on a water project near Jomo Kenyatta Airport.

Students who finished high school several years ago continue to work to improve their situations. Alice, who finished high school in 2013 and then had a baby, has gotten a part-time job at Safari.com working at corporate-hosted events. Esther, who graduated in 2012, got a new job as a customer service representative for a VIP travel agency.

With each of these stories, we see themes familiar to our own lives. You finish your education, get a job, then perhaps a better job. Sometimes you get sidetracked for a while, but then there is a course correction and a new opportunity comes along.

These are now young adults living normal, productive, middle-class lives in Kenya. They have broken the cycle of poverty and broken free of the slums. This is our mission and in each person who gets a job, we say Mission Accomplished!

Thank you for being part of it, for being patient with students who get side-tracked, and for celebrating with us for each life transformed.

Paula Meyer
Founder and President

October 15, 2019 By Kelvin Thuku 1 Comment

Kelvin Thuku’s Trip to the U.S.

Kelvin recently returned from a ten-day visit to the U.S. Kelvin is the Programme Coordinator at Ngong Road Children’s Foundation and joined the organization in 2013 as a computer lab instructor. Today Kelvin leads our Information and Communications Technology Department, Summer Camp, and Saturday Program hence he gets to interact with all the children in the program and understand them quite well. During his visit, he was able to meet various sponsors and donors and spend time with the US-based staff. Kelvin was able to help sponsors understand the supportive community programs that their sponsored children engage in and how these programs help them in the journey of transforming their lives.

A Tight Schedule
During his time in the US, Kelvin traveled throughout Minnesota, Iowa, and Texas meeting with sponsors and donors as well as giving presentations to churches (Christ Lutheran Church of Alamo Heights and Our Saviors Lutheran Church in the San Antonio area, friends and family, and of course at our Annual Gathering and Friends of Friends fundraising breakfast. He also met individually with some sponsors and donors and gave insight regarding the students they sponsor.

Kelvin is responsible for the technology and budget planning, therefore he was able to spend time with the tech team and gain a deeper understanding of the systems that the organization is leveraging to better support operations at NRCF. He also spent time with the board member in charge of financials and controls. He also spent time with the strategic planning committee discussing the scaling plan.

In addition to these meetings, Kelvin was able to experience life in Minnesota where he visited some of the landmarks such as Stone Arch Bridge, the Minneapolis sculpture garden, and the Mall of America. And he tried lots of new foods. He also had many opportunities for professional development working with our U.S. staff and board members and by meeting with other professional groups like the South Metro Minneapolis Evenings Rotary club and individuals like Paul Walker of Gallup to gain insight and experience.

A Great Experience
For Kelvin, the trip from Nairobi to Minnesota was a long one, but quite fulfilling since it was his first time in the US and his first trip out of Africa.

Kelvin is grateful to the organization for giving him the chance to travel to the US and get all the exposure and interaction. He is also grateful to all the sponsors and donors who spent time with him and for allowing him to share his perspectives of the program.

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.”