Friends of Ngong Road

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

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Greetings from Kelvin

Hello Friends and supporters of Ngong Road,

Students graduate

In the second quarter of the year, the focus was on Class 8 and Form 4 (grades 8 and 12) since they did their final National exams in April 2021 and received their results. Given the Covid-19 impact on education in 2020, our students performed fairly well. For Form 4 students, 5 qualified to join University, 9 in college for a Diploma, and 11 in technical institutes for Certificate courses. For Class 8 students, eleven students scored above 300 marks while six scored below 300 out of 500. We held graduation ceremonies for these students in May. The purpose of the ceremony is to celebrate the milestone achieved as well as orient the students for the next education Journey (secondary for class 8 graduates and Post-secondary for Form 4 graduates). The students were invited together with their parents and during the ceremony, they were required to sign commitment forms for the next level of education. The class 8 graduates will be joining the secondary school in August while Form 4 graduates will join colleges and Universities in September 2021.

Move to a new office

The months of May and June were equally busy with the office move. This was necessitated by the fact the former location was a residential estate and the members were concerned about the organization’s traffic of people given the COVID-19 situation. We had to look for commercial space and our compound. We were lucky to get a spacious bungalow next to our Saturday program field where we signed a 5-year lease agreement and moved in at the beginning of June. The staff and students are excited about the new campus because of its outdoor space and welcoming ambiance. Our students have more outdoor space for training and workshops. Our staff has a conducive working space in the main house. 

Planning for Elimu Hub

We are planning to construct a student resource center at the new campus in the 3rd quarter of the year. We are naming the student resource center “Elimu Hub” which means Education Hub. You can read more about this on the website under “Elimu Hub”. 

COVID-19 effects on NRCF

Since April 2020, NRCF has monitored and assessed the effects of Covid-19 on our students and their families. Case managers reach out and interview NRCF households to monitor their situations. Here are some findings from the most recent survey completed in May 2021.

  • 95% of the households have someone working compared to 81% in October 2020 and 70% of families in August 2020
  • The income of 58% of those households has decreased due to the COVID-19 impact
  • 88% have an average home situation rating which means they have partially recovered from 2020 COVID-19 impacts
  • 77% have average support which means they have a supportive family which is important for their educational  success

Family Assessment Charts

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The Impact of Leaders

“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.

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Vaccination Low. Economic Uncertainty High.

In the U.S. and Europe, COVID-19 vaccination rates are approaching 50 percent. Daily routines are beginning to return to some semblance of normal. Meanwhile, in Kenya, the vaccination rate hovers between 0.5 to 5 percent. Projections of reaching just 10 percent by the end of the year taint cause a real sense of uncertainty. Unprotected, the lingering threat of the Delta (India) variant is as real as the almost predictable electrical power brownouts that roll through Nairobi slums. 

Kelvin Thuku, Program Manager at Ngong Road Children’s Foundation, reports mixed reactions and impacts on schools’ reopening since May 1. Being back to school presents itself as a very new normal. All students must still wear masks, and they must maintain social distancing.

These conditions have impacted personal interactions, and the school time intensely focuses on the classroom curriculum. There’s a lot of catching up to do after missing nine months of the 2020 school year. Extracurricular activities are experiencing significant curtailment.

For primary school students, opening up schools was great, even with the restrictions. During the shutdown, young kids were becoming bored at home all day. They are excited to spend their days at school with their friends and then return home at night. 

It’s another story for older students, especially those attending boarding school. Last year’s break made it more challenging for young adults to leave their homes and go back to boarding school life. Their families are struggling financially, and boarding school life restrictions are reminders of what their families back home are trying to manage. Many secondary students found casual labor to help support their family’s economic hardships created by the pandemic. They are worried for their families and concerned that they should be helping sustain their families’ well-being. For some, returning to the streets of the slum last year meant they were exposed to drugs and alcohol, which became a problem. Returning to the isolated and strict boarding school lifestyle was challenging.

NRCF students and the nation are feeling the impact of COVID-19. Disciplinary problems and expulsions are on the rise. NRCF has already had two at-risk cases reach the organization’s Disciplinary Committee in just six weeks, including one expulsion, and two more are on the docket to be heard. It usually would see just two or three of these extreme cases in a school year.  

Beyond education, COVID-19’s impact has harshly impacted the local economy, confirmed in a recent NPR story. Gross Domestic Product economic figures show a sharp 5 percent decline during the pandemic versus a standard rate of 5 percent growth. The impact has especially hit the informal economy, where most NRCF families earn their incomes. An already vulnerable population is living in an ever more unstable economic environment.

Similarly, last year, several alumni and recent post-secondary graduates reported the termination of their employment contracts. Job prospects are weak and uncertain as employers are wary of adding staff after experiencing multiple national shutdowns and reopenings over the past year. 

Scare of a fourth wave of shutdowns in July looms. As long as the vast majority of the population is unvaccinated, the economy is at risk, and employers will try to do more with fewer employees. One fortunate alumnus remains employed as a barista. But with half of the staff cut at the company, he’s doing double shifts. NRCF alumni team members continue to do what they can to retain relationships with employers for potential job openings. But new graduates are admittedly unclear and uncertain about what the future holds.

NRCF is pleased to report that its students or immediate family members experienced no direct cases of COVID-19 despite these challenges. The organization continues to strictly adhere to and enforce government health and safety guidelines among its staff and students.  

For a complete audio version of an interview with Kelvin, on which this article is based, please visit the Illumini Podcast, Episode 18.