September 22, 2022
4:30-6 pm
Appetizers provided
Pryes Brewing Company
1401 W River Rd N
Minneapolis, MN 55411 (Map)
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We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.
September 22, 2022
4:30-6 pm
Appetizers provided
Pryes Brewing Company
1401 W River Rd N
Minneapolis, MN 55411 (Map)
"*" indicates required fields
By Paula Meyer Leave a Comment
“You are never too small to make a difference.” – Greta Thunberg, Norwegian environmentalist
I am a big believer in the power of leaders. We all see the impact of individuals with good ideas and effective leadership skills on organizations. I would like to briefly focus on the many ways Friends of Ngong Road is the beneficiary of diverse and effective leadership. In an effort to draw a line, I am going to focus on people who have served on our Board of Directors in the past. I cannot possibly summarize all the contributions of these people but can illustrate some part of their impact on Friends of Ngong Road.
Tom Gleason – served on the board of directors from 2008 – 2016. In 2009, he applied for a free license to SalesForce.com, got it, and helped us implement this powerful tool that remains our operating platform both in the U.S. and Kenya today. This tool transformed the effectiveness of our operations. Tom also founded and led a camp in Kenya for most of the years of his tenure.
Karen Bohn – also served on the board from 2008 – 2016. Karen conceived and led our handicrafts business generated $150,000+ of revenue for the organization over the years of her involvement and brought numerous new supporters to the organization. She led the growth of the library, creating book drives and collecting supplies. Karen worked with Paula to lead the organization’s Development efforts before we had staff.
Susan Plimpton – was a board member from 2010 – 2018. Her deep understanding of global development and fundraising was essential to our success during her tenure. She brought many new friends to the organization and connected us with organizations like Thrive Kenya. During this time, students were starting to graduate from secondary schools and choose areas of study. Susan developed our first career counseling program in response. Susan was also a strong fundraiser and an early supporter of hiring Development staff.
Sally Kenney – was a board member from 2017 – 2020. She brought the resources of Tulane University to bear and created our Sexual and Reproductive Health Program which has resulted in a material decline in the incidence of unplanned-for pregnancies among Kenyan students. Sally has a deep understanding of Development and provided practical guidance and support to our first Development Director.
Brian Hartert – began his volunteer contributions in 2014 as part of a competitive analysis team and joined the board in 2016. His deep financial expertise was instrumental in creating the solid financial and control infrastructure we rely upon today. He participated in or led global finance meetings from 2016 to the present and has agreed to continue to serve on the Board of Directors of Karibu Loo Limited. Brian has been promoted at Ameriprise and has two small children, so he has decided to step aside for now.
Meghan Feige – began her board service in 2019 and will conclude at the end of this year due to a promotion at work and the increasing demands of her young family. Meghan and her husband Evan traveled to Kenya twice to test Life Skills training on graduating seniors. She completely designed our 4-year curriculum for Life Skills which is now integral to students’ experiences with our organization. She also helped conceive and lead our HR Committee as we moved from a volunteer-only organization to one with employees.
My gratitude to these individuals for their leadership contributions is profound. I am the founder of Friends of Ngong Road, but my contributions are only one slice of all the gifts brought to bear.
Thank you to all who bring their volunteer gifts and time to bear on our mission.
By Paula Meyer Leave a Comment
Dear friends, We learned late Friday afternoon that due to a significant escalation in the rate of COVID infections, especially in Nairobi, the President of Kenya has announced containment measures including a lockdown. Nairobi county and four adjacent counties have been declared to be a “red zone” and movement into and out of this area has been prohibited as of midnight on Friday. Included among the measures being announced are: the reimposition of the dusk-to-dawn curfew, absolutely no gatherings of groups of people for any reason, all in-person education being suspended and all public and private sector employees encouraged to work from home. In other words, Nairobi is on lockdown. News reports from Kenya indicate that the South African variant, which is apparently more contagious, is the primary source of the recent surge in infections. We have also heard reports that all ICU beds in Nairobi are full. Our team in Kenya had an emergency meeting via Zoom on Saturday to discuss key implications (see Q&A below). We will keep you updated on the rapidly evolving situation in Kenya. Please be aware that if you are expecting a response to recent correspondence, this situation may slow our ability to get students to write emails in Kenya. This situation highlights the challenges faced as our world copes with this truly global pandemic. |
Here are the key implications of this lockdown to students: Q:  Will students remain in school for in-person education? A: No. The children have been in school since January 2 but have now been sent home. The only exception is that students who have just finished high school and are sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) will complete their exams in April. Students who are attending a boarding school outside of the five counties have been given two days to proceed to their homes. We are supporting that with bus fares and by making contact with their schools. Q.  We had many extra activities scheduled for students during their brief April holidays: Life Skills training, Sexual & Reproductive Health training, and Drug & Substance Awareness training. Will those training programs happen? A:  No. All of those special training programs will have to be rolled out sometime in the future. However, the case managers will use a bulk SMS process to both disseminate information on Sexual & Reproductive Health to students and to sensitize parents/guardians to emerging issues affecting students now home from school (e.g. substance abuse, teen pregnancy, etc.) Q:  Are students in post-secondary programs affected by this lockdown? A: Yes. All in-person instruction has been suspended. Our staff will follow up with every institution to understand their plans. When possible, we will loan post-secondary students a laptop if online education is proceeding. Q:  How will the students get enough food to eat? A:  We had planned a school holiday lunch program and will seek county government approval to proceed by offering a packed lunch to students. If that fails, we will have to develop an alternative plan. We have a food aid budget to provide food packets for 27 needy families per month in 2021. This program may have to be expanded depending on how long this lockdown continues. Q:  How will you keep in touch with students and their families? A:  As we did during the 2020 lockdowns, our case managers will contact all students by phone and will get an update on their situation from parents or guardians. The case managers will encourage closer scrutiny of students in an effort to keep them on track while they are home.  Q:  How will the Ngong Road Children’s Foundation staff operate? A:  The staff will continue its work-from-home rotation and will continue to follow guidelines related to mask-wearing, social distancing, and cleaning. The staff are being encouraged to get a vaccine and have been provided with a letter to show they are frontline workers. Vaccine availability in Kenya is limited, but some members of our team have already been vaccinated. |
By Paula Meyer Leave a Comment
Dear friends,
Last week I told you that one of Friends of Ngong Road’s priorities in our COVID-19 response in Kenya is to focus on family Food aid. We are calling this new initiative Food from Friends. In the course of a normal week during normal times, our program provides elementary-age students with breakfast and lunch each school day as well as a hearty lunch on Saturdays. Boarding school students receive 3 meals daily plus tea. As a result, when students are home these families experience extreme stress in just providing food for everyone.
Caseworkers for Ngong Road Children’s Foundation have contacted each family in our program over the past week. So far, no families in our program (including staff) have been diagnosed with COVID- 19. But, we’ve learned that two-thirds of our families have no source of income during the economic lockdown in Kenya. There are very serious limitations on movement and economic engagement including a curfew from dusk to dawn each day, enforced by police. Thus, our focus is to provide food aid for those families with no source of income. In our first week, we distributed 130 packets, but we must do more.Â
Each food packet contains beans and rice, corn flour, and cooking fat. Families eat beans and rice as a meal. Corn flour is used to make a staple dish called ugali (a thick cornmeal mush) that is typically eaten with collard greens or spinach. A food packet costs about $10 ($40 a month) and we estimate will feed a family of four at least one meal a day for a week.
We expect the need for food to grow as Kenya’s shutdown goes from days to weeks. Thank you for your commitment to providing Food From Friends. Please click on the Donate button to give today.
Sincerely,
Paula Meyer
By Kelvin Thuku Leave a Comment
We held our bi-annual medical camp on a Saturday in April at the Dagoretti City Council Grounds, near our local office.
In one day 376 people received medical, dental, and eye care, along with preventative nutrition, sexual health, and hygiene care.
Of the 376 attendees, 223 were students of the program, 30 were guardians, 20 were staff members, and 103 others were relatives and neighbors of the children in the program.
Friends of Ngong Road provides ongoing healthcare when needed throughout the year to students. This medical camp is vital for detecting chronic issues, delivering preventive care, and ensuring early intervention for better health outcomes.
The clinic cared for students with diverse dental needs, extracting teeth for five individuals among them.
The clinic addressed bloated abdomens, ear issues, headaches, sprains, respiratory infections, and peptic ulcers, catering to diverse symptoms.
The medical camp is an important service we are fortunate to be able to offer our students and community. Our generous sponsors and donors make the medical camp possible, enabling kids to learn better when they are healthier.
This event is co-sponsored in Kenya with Ngong Road Health Centre, Nairobi Women’s Hospital, St. Joseph Catholic Health Centre, Sunrise Dental clinic, Sai Pharmaceuticals Company, Savant’s Bookshop, and volunteers from Kikuyu and Voi Rotary Clubs and Red Cross.
Thank you to the community of Friends of Ngong Road for making medical camp possible.