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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Upgrades to the Sponsor Portal

Photos of Your Student

For a long time, we’ve struggled to efficiently share student photos. We were able to print and send portraits to sponsors, but we had no means of sharing the thousands of photos we have of students from school, camp, Saturday Program, and everyday life.

We are excited to have launched a new photo management system that allows students to tag themselves in photos, quickly linking them to you in the portal. This gives sponsors a more timely glimpse into the transformation of their student’s life. 

To see photos of your student, simply click the “photos” tab on your portal dashboard and click on a photo to enlarge it.  Use the arrows within the picture to scroll through additional pictures.  A picture is worth a thousand words!     

Communicating with Your Student

The portal is the best way to communicate with your student. The “inbox” tab allows you to easily send and receive messages. We’ve recently added video capabilities. This allows you and your student to use your phone or computer’s webcam to send short videos to each other. Students love to see videos of their sponsors. 

Students receive messages and videos through the portal much sooner than handwritten letters. Easily connect with your student anytime, sending a thoughtful “I’ve been thinking about you” message, simplifying your communication.

More Enhancements 

We will continue to make portal improvements to increase communication and provide useful information understanding.   We are going to add tips on communicating with your student, FAQs, program overviews, and more. We’re also planning educational programs where sponsors will be able to get together, learn more about Kenya, our programs, and network with each other. 

If you have ideas for new features, let us know.  If you haven’t been on the portal recently, log back on to see the changes and know that more is to come.

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Changes to the Kenyan School System

Kenya was a British colony until it gained independence in 1963. After independence, many colonial influences persisted in the country, including the old British educational system (long abandoned in Britain). This system is test-based with key examinations that take place at the end of each academic term and then at the end of the equivalent of 8th grade and 12th grade. Students’ scores on these tests determine what secondary and post-secondary schools they can attend and the type of job they can get. Teaching in Kenya has almost exclusively revolved around preparing students to take these exams as their entire future hinges on how they score.  The movie “A Small Act” portrays the terrible pressure students feel to succeed in this system.  

The advantage of a test-based system for Kenyan educators is that it is easy for the government to determine where students are able to continue their schooling. For example, if a student scores above 400, they go to a quality government school, or below 250 they go to a trade school. There are however many disadvantages to the test-based system. It rewards students who can memorize the material but it doesn’t encourage any analytical thinking skills.

Teachers instruct students not to question them, but rather to learn what the teacher deems necessary. People view students who struggle with memorization as less intelligent, which limits their access to a life with better opportunities. Many students are not successful in this system.

Kenyan educators clearly understand some of the downsides to the old British system and the country is now transitioning to a Competency-Based Curriculum. This new educational system will teach students more analytical, critical thinking, as well as practical skills.  There will be many challenges with such a large systemic change, they will be transitioning for the next decade at a minimum.  Few teachers in Kenya have experienced any other system, so training teachers on how to teach in an entirely different way will be a monumental hill to climb. In addition, this will require the curriculum to be changed at every level and current high school and post-secondary placement processes will need to be redesigned. Our Case Managers in Kenya are staying up to date on the upcoming changes to anticipate needs, and to understand the organizational impact required to support students through the changes.

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Karibu Loo Corner

Business Update 

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt business performance in Kenya and the world at large. At Karibu Loo, the short-term event-based business has experienced the largest downturn due to the restrictions placed on public gatherings put in place by the government. However, with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, the economy is starting to gain traction, potentially allowing short-term business to sprout once again.

Social Media Marketing

In 2021, we launched a digital marketing campaign, including Google Ads, a beefed-up Google advertising campaign. The aim of this strategy was to establish a robust and diversified online presence. We are also planning on engaging other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Non-commissionable business (no salespersons attached) accounted for over 80% of our revenue since its inception.

Long-term Business Update

Since the onset of the pandemic, Karibu Loo has survived on long-term business (loos hired for more than 30 days). In our 2021 Plan, we focused on pursuing more long-term businesses, especially construction companies. Our successful online marketing strategy and engagement of all our staff to market our services by making direct calls and sending emails to reach targeted clients has resulted in a continued increase in long-term business.  Thus, the business has continued during these challenging times. Currently, we have about a quarter of our cabins leased out and we are receiving more long-term inquiries as the year progresses. 

Staff Update on COVID-19

Unfortunately, two of Karibu Loo’s staff contracted COVID-19 but later recovered after 14 days of medical leave; they are now back in operation. Currently, we are encouraging all our staff to be vaccinated, with a goal of 100% vaccinated by the end of the year as vaccines are now more accessible.

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Alumni Stories

Lydia, a Call Center Attendant at Zuku Kenya Limited is Looking Ahead to Graduate School

A Chinese proverb states “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step”. This is the story of Lydia, she could not imagine that she would be a college graduate.

Lydia’s journey has not been easy. She lived with her mother and younger brother. Lydia attended a community primary public school every morning, without any hope of transferring to a secondary school. The life she finds herself living now was beyond the realm of her wildest dreams.

Thanks to Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children’s Foundation, she was paired with a sponsor who was instrumental in her success. The program fully paid her school fees from primary school through university, including necessary school supplies. This generous support made her work even harder to achieve good grades. 

At 23 years old she prides herself not just for having attained a BS in Economics and Finance but also for being among the few girls in her neighborhood that have transformed their life in this way. Her transformational journey has just started as Lydia now works as a call center attendant at Zuku Kenya Limited, a fiber optic company. Her future aspirations include earning a master’s degree so she can pursue better job opportunities.

Bernard works as an Operations Associate at Karibu Loo Limited.

Bernard is one of our graduates who currently works at Karibu Loo Limited as an Operations Associate, after completing a driving course. He is grateful for how far he has come and is now on the right path to transforming his life. His story is that of persistence and demonstrating a spirit of not giving up. 

He was raised by his aunt, since his mother was in poor health, which made it impossible for her to be involved in his upbringing. Unlike many children, he had a lot of challenges which caused him to enroll in school at an older age than normal.

His family situation affected his academics and like most teens, he had his own challenges. But he never gave up and finished high school with the support of his sponsor and program staff. He even became the school president while in high school.

Bernard says, “Learning to have that persistence, letting my ego down a bit, and asking for help is what has made me come this far. Thanks to everyone who helped me through school.”

Brian works as a Sales Associate at Platinum Credit Limited.

Our program’s support has transformed Brian’s life, making him one of our recent graduates. His story is one that will be told for generations to come in his family. Brian has utilized his experiences as a stepping stone to overcome challenges and achieve success in life. He lived with his grandparents. Early on, he recognized importance of taking school seriously to escape his deteriorating living situation and assist his aging grandparents.

While he was sponsored,​ he gained various skills that helped him develop as a whole person. The life skills learned during school holidays and at camp encourage him to pursue leadership roles in both secondary and post-secondary school. The computer skills he developed through our program have been essential in his journey to acquiring a job. He completed his diploma in Entrepreneurship Development from The Eldoret Polytechnic. Currently works as a Sales Associate at Platinum Credit Limited. In just a month, he grasps marketing insights and manages client queries, showcasing remarkable proficiency and swift adaptation.

Transformative education improved his life, cultivating gratitude and a future aspiration to aid others on their educational journey.

Brian shared, “Success favors those who fail till they succeed and never let challenges be a stumbling block rather let them be opportunities for growth.”

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COVID-19 Update

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create havoc globally, positivity rates in Kenya continue to rise and fall in multiple waves. President Uhuru Kenyatta refers to this pattern as a “’containment seesaw.”

Like other countries, Kenya is trying to manage the Delta variant. Within the slums of Nairobi, poor sanitation and overcrowded living conditions make social distancing impossible.  Positivity rates rise and fall causing constant uncertainty which has brought about a renewed survival instinct in the Kenyan population.

Kenya Government and Health Ministry enforce mask-wearing and more to curb variant spread, minimize next wave’s impact.  A COVID-19 vaccine return to work policy for all civil servants has been implemented. Individuals in the government employ are required to be vaccinated so they can resume work physically and improve service delivery.  The Kenyan military is required to get vaccinated, or they will not be paid. 

Seventeen months have passed since Kenya reported the first case of COVID-19. One year later, in March 2021, Kenya rolled out a National Vaccine Deployment Plan to inoculate 10 million adults by June 2022 and 16 million by June 20, 2023. 

By the end of September, we will have administered 4.5 million doses. However, this is a small dent in the approximately 40 million people aged 12 and over.  It is slow due to limited vaccine availability and challenges with reaching the people in rural areas with the road system in poor condition.

At NRCF, we are adopting a similar policy due to our work which involves interaction with students, families, donors, and other stakeholders. We are pleased that progress is being made as 75% have at least the first dose, most with the AstraZeneca vaccine. It’s our goal to have all staff fully vaccinated by year-end.  Fortunately we have had only one student and three alumni be diagnosed with COVID-19.  Two of those alumni work at Karibu Loo.  The student and three alumni have all recovered.