We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.
Check out Minnesota Business Magazine’s article on our business venture in portable toilets, Karibu Loo!
“If we are going to truly transform their lives, they need work,” Friends of Ngong Road’s Founder and President says about the opportunity the venture has for kids in the program.
This has been an exciting year for our organization as two major changes have taken place and we have crafted a strategic plan that will guide us through 2020. A lot of our programs are working.
I’m Working! It’s Working! We have seen the result of nine years of work as some of our oldest students finish their post-secondary education and get jobs. There is an article in the newsletter about our post-secondary program, describing how it will work and the results to date. We now have 94 students who have finished their primary and secondary education. All of our 2012 graduates are employed and more than half of our 2013 graduates are employed. With each newsletter, we will profile students who have completed their education and are now employed.
Karibu Loo. We have completed the pilot for Karibu Loo and have placed an order that will put us on the path of growing this business. We greatly appreciate the pilot results and hold a strong belief that the business has significant potential to generate income in support of our educational mission, while also providing employment opportunities to many of our graduates. In 2016, the company initiated the plan to expand and develop the business.
Vision 2020. In 2015, the Board had 3 planning sessions, backing a 5-year plan with 3 key initiatives:
1. Capacity building – moving to professional management from today’s volunteer organization in the U.S. and building management capacity in Kenya;
2. Financial sustainability – build Karibu Loo and the endowment fund to create a more enduring financial model for the organization;
3. Return to growth – the board has endorsed the objective of growing to 1000 students actively supported plus alumni by 2020.
As has happened in the past 9 years, there will be many changes and challenges in the coming years. However, with a clear strategy and the work of talented people, I feel optimistic we will be able to craft an enduring future for the organization. As always, sincere thanks for your support.
Paula Meyer
President, Friends of Ngong Road
The KL business in Nairobi is expanding and these are the updates regarding its status.
Karibu Loo Will be Fully Launched in 2016
We have placed an order that will begin the expanding portable toilet business in Nairobi. In early 2016, we will fully launch the business by adding a pick-up truck, a VIP toilet, and another 40 cabins, along with hand-washing stations in response to our key learnings during the 2015 pilot.
Financial results
During the pilot project, we were able to break even because all of the capital was donated. We are actively soliciting financial support to pay for the cost of the equipment that will allow us to expand. Those efforts will continue in 2016. If we are able to secure donations to cover our capital needs we will be able to begin making financial contributions to Ngong Road Children’s Foundation’s operating budget next year.
Employment
In 2015, we exceeded our goals for the employment of our graduates. To date, 24 graduates have worked as Associates at events, learning important employment skills. In addition, we have hired three graduates to assist with operations, administration, and accounting. As we grow these results should continue.
Looking ahead
Michael Switzer will continue as our volunteer general manager in Nairobi until June 2016. We expect to hire his successor in March and to continue to build the team and infrastructure that will allow this business to build on the successes of 2015.
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First, a big thank you to all of you who provided economic support for the 2015 Friends of Ngong Road Camp. As a result of your support Camp 2015 offered more opportunities, more experiences, more learning, and more fun than ever before. 2016 will be another great experience! Read on to see how you can become a part of it.
Tulane University Partnership Approved!
New this year at the camp were classes and activities taught by Sally J. Kenney, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Newcomb College Institute (NCI) of Tulane University in New Orleans. The mission of the Institute is to educate undergraduate women about leadership in the 21st century. Kenney, who sponsors three children with Friends of Ngong Road and has been to Kenya twice, was eager to engage her students globally and curious as to whether younger students in the developing world would find value in NCI’s gender and leadership model.
In 2015, Kenney and NCI’s Senior Program Coordinator, Mailliron Hodge, taught leadership and gender sessions at Leadership Camp, Senior Camp, and Grammar Camp. They brought with them a wonderful film on Wangari Mathai.
Both the boys and the girls enjoyed the activities and the lessons resonated. Kenney and Hodge were inundated with campers who wanted to know more about how to learn and enjoyed participating in all of the activities.
Because Kenya is still on the State Department’s Watch List, we all anxiously awaited the outcome of the request to approve a credit course at Tulane for 2016. Happily, Tulane approved. Twenty students are enrolled in the preparatory course, taught by Gwen Thompkins, former East African correspondent for NPR.
Kenney and Hodge hope to bring at least five student volunteers to camp. We hope that Tulane students will broaden the camp curriculum, teach study skills, and mentor our students. Kenney reported that participating in camp was the most rewarding teaching experience of her life, but she felt saddened to realize that, at age 56, she can no longer truly jump rope.
Camp 2015 Report:
This year, 297 students and 32 volunteers, many of whom were NRCF post-secondary students, actively participated in the camp.
Leadership Camp:
Forty Ngong Road Children’s Foundation students were accepted as counselors for this year’s camp. They displayed remarkable leadership
skills as they worked their way through the three-day curriculum including teaching the principles of effective leadership.
This interactive learning experience is focused upon a deepened understanding of good leadership characteristics, practicing leadership skills, understanding the responsibilities and tasks of being a camp counselor, and introducing the idea of using and working with emotional leadership.
The counselors also developed solutions to camp issues (such as cellphone use) and implemented them during Camp 2015. The interactive learning sessions were favorites. A volunteer in the NRCF Post-Secondary program expressed their fourth opportunity to participate in Leadership Camp. I have learned a lot at each of them, but this year was the best yet, I learned so much!”
Grammar Camp:
112 campers attended Grammar Camp 2015, which took place outside of Nairobi at the St. Francis Xavier School, just like the Leadership and Senior camps.
It was the first time we have held Grammar Camp in a rural area, and the kids loved the fresh air, especially the boat ride on Lake Naivasha. They also enjoyed the many “crazy games” and relays at camp. However, my favorite activity in both Grammar and Senior Camp was the making of tie-dye T-shirts. This complicated art project was the brainchild of Margaret Pfeffer who attended her fifth camp as Art Director. Her amazing talents resulted in over 300 camper-dyed T-shirts with nary a mishap!
Kids Camp:
Seventeen of our youngest students attended Kids Camp this year. We conducted this one-day excursion at a wonderful amusement park in Nairobi. The kids loved the games and especially the rides!