Our Story
Our Beginnings
Friends of Ngong Road was founded in 2006 by Paula Meyer after a family trip to Kenya. She was disturbed by the number of children who could not attend school. These impoverished families were simply unable to afford the cost of modest school fees or a school uniform.
Paula committed to starting an organization dedicated to ensuring that some of those children could transform their lives and have hope for their future. Two organizations were founded – Friends of Ngong Road (FoNR), a Minnesota-based 501(c)(3), and Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF), a registered Kenyan NGO. The two organizations operate with a shared mission, principles, and values. We hold a deep belief in the value of education and the transformation it can bring. Together, we support children who can succeed but do not have the means.
In January of 2007, the first year of operation, 60 students were sponsored and started school.
We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.
Mission Statement
Friends of Ngong RoadWho We Serve
The Dagoretti slum in Nairobi is home to approximately 200,000 people living in 5.2 square miles of cramped quarters. They have inadequate housing and have little access to clean water, sanitation, healthcare, schools, and other essential public services. These conditions are unimaginable to those who have never seen them.
For a child living in the slums of Nairobi, the only real opportunity to pull themselves, and potentially their families, out of poverty and the slums is to get a good, well-paying job. To get a good job, one needs an education.
Today, we have a thriving program with many students and a growing group of successfully employed alumni, some of whom are nurses, lawyers, engineers, chefs, digital marketers, and entrepreneurs. See our outcomes.
What is Ngong Road
In Swahili, “Ngong” means “knuckles”. The Ngong Hills are named after their shape, which looks like the knuckles on a fist. Our organization is named after ‘Ngong Road’, a busy two-lane road at the base of the Ngong Hills, on the outskirts of Nairobi. The Dagoretti slum, where our students live, sits alongside this road.
While traveling down Ngong Road, you experience loud music, packed vehicles, many pedestrians, and merchants selling everything from meats and produce to clothing and furniture. Our campus also sits along this road, while our students participate in our Saturday Program at a field next to our office, facing Ngong Road. It is truly the ‘main street’ of our students’ lives.
Friends of Ngong Road Children’s Foundation
Our two organizations work closely together to support and empower our students. Friends of Ngong Road’s U.S. staff, Board, and volunteers lead fundraising, sponsorship recruitment, and provide expertise and guidance to Ngong Road Children’s Foundation based in Kenya.
The Kenya staff runs the day-to-day operations, student recruitment, case management, and additional programming. The program touches the students, their families, and the schools they attend.