Michon Garrett, Author at Friends of Ngong Road

March 23, 2022 By Michon Garrett Leave a Comment

TechMates

We consider students fully transformed once they are employed. To enhance their employability, we launched several employment programs, one of them being the TechMates program. TechMates is our new technical training program focused on IT and digital marketing.

Launched in September 2021

The program was started in September 2021. Seven graduates have benefited from this program so far. Each year we aim to recruit at least two interns every six months. During that period, they undergo basic technical training in WordPress website programming and design. After the training, they develop their websites and work on website enhancement and digital marketing for Friends of Ngong Road( FoNR), Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF), and Karibu Loo as an implementation of the skills acquired during the training. This enhances their technical and interpersonal skills which are key in the professional world.

Assisting NRCF and interacting with FoNR

The TechMates also assist in the day-to-day operations of Ngong Road Children’s Foundation as they master more skills. They assist with teaching some of the younger kids computer basics, running the Saturday Program, as well as troubleshooting technical issues for NRCF staff. Every week they get to meet with two US FoNR board members (Andy Walz and Keith Kale) where they present their weekly accomplishments. The meetings enhance their communication and presentation skills.

Experience with clients

We also seek clients that require freelancing services and provide them with TechMates. Currently, Lido Nation, referred to TechMates by one of our U.S staff (Michon Garrett), has provided several opportunities to TechMates. Three of the TechMates are working on translating the Lido Nation website into Swahili while two are being trained as web developers and blockchain experts. We are optimistic that the relationship with Lido Nation will benefit more of our students in the near future.

We welcome anyone that can offer training, funding, and or mentorship to our students to increase their employability.

February 16, 2022 By Michon Garrett Leave a Comment

Meet our new Case Manager: Wence

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet” – this quote would best describe Wenceslaus Njiri right from childhood. Wenceslaus, mostly known as “Wence” by his peers, was born and raised in Ngando, Dagoretti. He lived with his grandmother who was the sole breadwinner and had quite a difficult childhood mainly because his grandmother struggled to provide for him and the entire family. Wence joined the Ngong Road program in 2009 and his case manager described him as being “polite, well-disciplined, and impressive”.

His leadership skills were seen right from High School as he was a dorm captain and the hockey team captain while at Parklands High School. He took major steps even as a young person to become a visionary leader. He was also one of the instrumental and key people that pioneered the Youth Peer Providers (YPP) program as part of the students’ Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) training.

Wence is loved by especially the youngest students in the program and takes pride in being a major contributor and facilitator of the Saturday programs. During his time at Kabete National Polytechnic College where he studied social work and community development and at the same time, he still made time to volunteer as a facilitator in the Saturday program. He would interact with the kids and created a strong bond, not yet knowing that he would soon get the chance to work with the kids as their case manager.

His love and commitment to work during his internship at the organization is one of the factors that led to him being hired as a case manager in the primary department at the start of 2022. He loves working as a case manager and he describes it as a way of showing appreciation to the organization that changed his life and enabled him to get an education. Wence hopes to accomplish a lot for the organization and for himself as he maneuvers through and explores his career.

Thanks to Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children’s Foundation for transforming this young man’s life through education.

Welcome, Wence!

Friends of Ngong Road 2020 Kenya Visit – day 3 – Saturday Program – Introduction to Ultimate

December 16, 2021 By Michon Garrett Leave a Comment

Karibu Loo Corner

Karibu Loo has rebuilt the business and is ready for a new year

With the country’s ongoing vaccination campaign and following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, the Kenyan economy is gradually recovering from Covid-19 impacts.

Rebuilding the Business after Covid-19

The impact of Covid -19 has resulted in 2021 being a rebuilding year for Karibu Loo. In 2021 our priority was on building our long-term rental business which year to date is over 60% of total revenue. Our primary marketing tool was digital advertising campaigns through Google and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). These campaigns have been very successful with almost 80% of our sales, including long term commercial, coming through direct inquiry without a sales intermediary.

Long-Term Business is our mainstay

Since the onset of the pandemic, long-term business (primarily construction companies) has been our mainstay in revenue and has enabled us to survive through the pandemic. Short term business is primarily event-based which has been slower to return.

During the last three quarters of 2021, we recorded a rapid increase in long-term revenue peaking at 25 cabins per day in the fourth quarter. In recent months, the long-term has contributed almost 70% of the total monthly revenue for Karibu Loo, the highest level we have recorded since inception of Karibu Loo. We believe this trend will progress next year, creating a solid revenue generation base.

2022 Business Outlook is bright

The coming year outlook remains uncertain and contingent on the impact of the Covid-19 variant (Omicron). We anticipate serving the BATUK (British Military Training Unit Kenya) organization. They train troops in Nanyuki, about a four-hour drive from Nairobi. BATUK usually schedules military training in phases throughout the year so we anticipate supplying at least 40 cabins per day for three months beginning in January with the possibility of extending through the rest of the year. Despite the complex operations cost behind the business, it provides a significant revenue boost.

Staff Update on Covid-19

Due to the nature of our work, we encouraged all our staff to get vaccinated in order to participate in the prevention and reduction of Covid-19 risks and also protect our clients while in service. Currently all our staff are 100% fully vaccinated (complete doses).

December 15, 2021 By Michon Garrett Leave a Comment

Saturday Development Program

Each Saturday we host a child development program with the help of our Case Managers. The program consists of fun activities surrounding a wholesome fresh lunch prepared and served by our cooks. A nurse is on hand to distribute multivitamins and deworming pills regularly and meets with individual children who are ill, referring them to clinics or prescribing treatment as appropriate. The nurse also gives health talks to different age groups. The Saturday Program Coordinator organizes activities geared towards cognitive development and social and physical development. We invite volunteers to support running the activities as well as bring in new ideas. The activities rotate between the following themes;

Cognitive activities include a book reading and puzzle games
Olympic athletics which is all about running (which Kenyans are famous for)
Clubs and talent search including drama, music, and Taekwondo
Ball games such as soccer and Katie (dodgeball)
Crazy Olympics. This includes crazy games such as the banana foot pass relay, balloon relay, three-legged relay, and sack relay.

In 2020, we put the Saturday program on hold due to COVID-19. This dealt a big blow to our students as the Saturday program is a good opportunity for kids to build memories, friendship, and sportsmanship, and enjoy a “sumptuous” meal together. We resumed the program in May of 2021 but, despite all the hype, the attendance was very low as most parents and guardians were very cautious about releasing their children due to COVID-19 fears. It was equally challenging for the program coordinators to try to organize activities with less contact and ensure kids observed the Ministry of Health guidelines such as wearing masks. However, as time passed more students attended the program and in this last quarter of the year, we reached over 90% attendance. During the holiday break, we also had a very high attendance of high school students which means we will need a bigger and better field next year.

The August summer camp was also canceled due to Covid-19 and with the change in the school calendar, the Saturday program has now become the new “mini-camp”. The Saturday program has defined the true meaning of the NRCF family as the staff and students come together to share joy and happiness with each other and forget about the hustle and bustle of the slums and city. It is also during the Saturday program that the Case Managers get to do further follow-up on the child’s wellbeing.