Dear friends,

The pandemic is not over, yet somehow it feels we are turning the corner in the US. In Kenya, the effect of COVID-19 was more severe economically and educationally than in public health.  Through February, Kenya reported a total of 1,866 deaths from COVID-19.  This is about ⅓ the deaths reported in Minnesota despite the fact that Kenya has about 43 million people vs Minnesota’s 5.64 million.  

Our team in Kenya believes that economic life is returning to normal in Nairobi, though there is still a ban on large gatherings and the curfew has been extended 60 days.  We stopped providing families food packets through our Food from Friends program in January with no reports of undue suffering.  It will take time for the economy to recover ground, but things seem to be coming back steadily. 

Ngong Road Children’s Foundation staff, working with our schools have done our best to keep students engaged without in-person education, but nonetheless students lost ground.  There are numerous reports in the country of “indiscipline” among high school students with lower test scores and challenges as students return to the structure of regular education.

The Kenyan government decided last fall that all schools would reopen for in-person education in January 2021. Normally, the academic year is the calendar year and children attend school for three terms. The intention is to squeeze in a fourth school term in 2021 and and again in 2022 to make up for the two lost terms in 2020. This has important implications for our program:

• For two years, school fees will be about 25% higher. School fees are our biggest annual expense.
• We will not hold camp in 2021 or 2022. This is the students’ favorite activity of the year and will be sorely missed until August 2023 when we hope to resume camp.
• Life Skills training is scheduled for the April breaks.  This training is an essential part of our high school program and has contributed significantly to student success.

Other changes being handled by our team:

• Case Managers continue family visits/check-ins by phone and are beginning in-person visits at many schools.  
• Large gatherings such as the Saturday Program are still prohibited.
• Students are now issued masks as part of their school uniform.
• Our staff operate in a hybrid fashion, taking turns coming into the office and working remotely due to social distancing requirements.

Kenya has received 1 million doses of vaccines to be administered to health care workers, elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions such as HIV.  Experts believe receiving adequate vaccine supplies for the entire adult population will be the biggest challenge to eradicating COVID in Kenya.  President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke to the nation on March 12 about the implications of a ‘third wave’ of COVID in Kenya, extending restrictions on large gatherings, the curfew and other limitations.  This COVID wave in Kenya seems to be predominantly the South Africa variant of the virus.

Nevertheless, Kenyans persist.  Students are back in school and families are working hard to regain ground lost in 2020.  We are doing all we can to support their efforts with your help.  Thank you as we all work together to support our students’ dreams to transform their lives through education.

Sincerely,

Worldwide, this school year is like no other. For Ngong Road students, like Michelle, it’s even more exceptional. After being out of school for much of 2020, the 2021 school year sprung into action in January. This year will have four semesters compared to a typical three-semester year. 

Michelle and her fellow classmates will go non-stop until December… with no summer break. 

Please support the “2021: Spring Forward – No Summer Break Ahead” campaign and make a big difference for our students. We are seeking to raise $15,000, which has been matched by anonymous gifts to fill these additional needs. That means any gift you give will be doubled, and all amounts are appreciated. We are getting close to reaching our goal! Help us meet the match. 

The extra semester this year results in additional expenses such as transportation, supplies, and school fees. A gift of $75 covers the cost of giving 10 students soap, shoe shine kit, lotion, sanitary napkins, and toilet paper for a term; $350 covers the cost of transporting 20 kids back and forth to school for one term; and $1,200 covers the cost of providing breakfast and lunch for 70 primary students for one term.

Friends of Ngong Road students, families, and communities continue to be challenged by extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, overcrowded living, limited access to quality healthcare and nutrition, and now this global pandemic. 

Thanks to your support, you are helping children spring forward in 2021, making it possible for our students to continue to focus on school and transform their lives.

Asaph was born in 1996, the eldest of two children in his family. When he was ten years old his father and mother were diagnosed with HIV and shortly thereafter his father died. Asaph joined the Ngong Road Children’s Foundation program in 2008. He successfully finished high school and joined St. Paul’s University where he got a two-year degree in business management.

Karibu Loo hired Asaph as an administrative and marketing assistant for two years. While there,  Asaph was offered a higher salary by Patiala Distillers where he was in charge of inventory control for 16 months. He obviously impressed his employers since he was promoted at the end of that assignment. He became the Sales Supervisor in the Mount Kenya region for a year and just recently was promoted yet again to be an Assistant Key Account Manager in the Nairobi headquarters of Patiala Distillers.  

Asaph’s mother is still alive but has been diagnosed with cervical cancer in addition to HIV. He is her sole source of support and both are so grateful that he is able to do so. Asaph demonstrates the grit, determination and focus one would expect to see in a young man who has moved so quickly upward in his career.