Friends of Ngong Road

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

Archives for November 2020

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COVID-19 Family Tracking Report: October 2020

Our Case Managers in Kenya have completed another round of check-in calls with our students and their families to determine how they are doing amidst the changing COVID-19 situation. If you joined one of our Annual Gatherings, you heard Kelvin report that Kenya has performed better than expected in this pandemic due to quick action and stringent enforcement of shut-down rules. For our families, here are some of the things we have learned from the most recent set of calls: 

  • Families are going back to work. 81% of our families have at least one working family member, compared to 70% of families in August.
  • 7% of students have gone back to school (all are post-secondary students), as compared to 3% of students in August.
  • About 50% of students are receiving assignments from their school. If they’re not receiving assignments from their school, we are giving them assignments to do (such as book reports). The reasons students aren’t receiving assignments can be seen in the graph below.
  • Though most families have some form of income, it is still significantly less than what they were earning before the pandemic, which was still hard enough to support themselves. Most are reporting a continued decrease in income. You can see the percentages in the graph below.

If you are a sponsor, the individual results for your student will be posted to your portal soon, and you will receive a separate email.

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The Sponsor/Student Portal Experience

Since its inception, Friends of Ngong Road has operated with the principle of establishing one-on-one relationships between sponsors and students. Up to this point, relationships were created largely by encouraging communications, namely exchanges of letters and materials sent through the mail or hand-carried between the U.S. and Kenya. This past year, the organization enhanced the ability for sponsors and students to become connected by establishing the Sponsor/Student Portal. 

While many are still exploring the Sponsor/Student Portal as a new tool, its possibilities for use seem limitless.

And especially in this time of Covid-19 imposed realities — where distance learning, social isolation, and many of us are learning to embrace technology to connect (who hasn’t joined a Zoom call?). We believed initiating a dialogue with pioneering sponsors and students was a sound approach to explore their innovative usage.

We engaged in a Zoom talk with FONR sponsor Jeri Pearcy. She and husband Jeff live in Milwaukee, supporting Nairobi’s student, Perpetual.

Our conversation (available in its entirety here on Illumini Podcast) resulted in a wonderful conversation, starting with how they first met in 2008 and continuing with how they have shared letters through the mail over the years. Today, both Perpetual and Jeri are coping with the pandemic.

They unveiled a profound revelation, demonstrating their mutual outlook on adapting to Covid-19’s challenges, despite differing circumstances. During the discussion on the Sponsor/Student Portal, Perpetual and Jeri explored the technology, finding it convenient and user-friendly. They expressed gratitude for email speed but also want to exchange photos, news, articles and school work more frequently.

Jeri is a retired nurse practitioner and teacher, and Perpetual is focused on post-secondary education as a systems and business analyst.  

The conversation encompassed benefits reaped by Jeri, a sponsor, and Perpetual, a sponsored student, through Friends of Ngong Road connections. Expressing the unspoken connection’s energy in writing is challenging. Yet, through Zoom, the palpable loving energy became evident.

We hope you enjoy listening in!