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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Students Sponsored by Our Program Outperform Kenyan Averages

We continue to measure the performance of the children in our program.  The Kenyan education system is focused on two tests – the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) taken at the end of eighth grade and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) taken at the end of twelfth grade.

We now have enough information to demonstrate that we are consistently producing superior academic results at the eighth-grade level.  As shown in the chart at right, the children in the Ngong Road Children’s Foundation/Friends of Ngong Road program have scored, on average, better than the Kenyan average for six consecutive years on the KCPE. We believe this is solid evidence that your support of our organization is well-placed.

KCPE performance is important because it allows our higher-performing students to attend higher quality high schools which in turn will better prepare our students for the KCSE exam at the end of their high school years.

NRCF_FoNR_Avg_8th_Grade_Scores

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Meet Joy Obiya, Our New Post-Secondary Department Leader

Joy Obiya is a post-secondary case worker at NRCF. She joined the organization in November 2014. Her work is to ensure that secondary graduates enroll in the Post-Secondary Program and prepare them for college and ultimately the job market. She as well meets with the students either individually or in a group and helps them decide on a career within their reach. Also, she helps students gain greater self-awareness in areas such as interests, values, abilities, and personality styles.

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Volunteers For August 2015 Camp

Camp 2015 Volunteer Travel Grant

Emily Gleason and Turner Cobden will be providing a $1000 partial travel grant for the Friends of Ngong Road August Camp volunteers in 2015. This grant will be awarded to a candidate they believe will best contribute to the holiday camp and to the mission of the charity: to provide education and support for Nairobi children living in poverty whose families are affected so they can transform their lives.

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Letter From Nairobi – NRCF 2015

Dear Friends, This has been a busy time here in Nairobi at Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF).

Peter_Ndungu

A new school year

At this time of the year, we must get all the children ready for the new school year which begins in January or February.  It is a lot of work because every child gets a new school uniform and new school supplies.

For the new Form 1 (9th graders) it means finding a new high school which is a boarding school and leaving home for the first time.  They all get a trunk full of everything they need for the year.

Success on our KCPE results

We had 51 children who sat for KCPE  (Kenya Comprehensive Primary Exam) in 2014. We are happy to report that the results were very good because, for the first time, we will have more than seven students who will be able to join National Schools. Our average score this year was 295. This is the first year that we had such a big number of students taking the exam and qualifying for a National High School.

We are proud that 24 students had 300 marks and above which is a big achievement. In total, we had 39 students who were above the average mark which is 251. Another remarkable thing is that for the first we have had the highest score of 396 compared with other years. We are also happy to report that about 40 students will also be accepted in higher-quality government-funded secondary schools which is the highest number we have ever got.

Getting the kids ready for high school

The NRCF program that we have come up with for the eighth-grade graduates of KCPE is as follows: They normally sit for the exams in November, and exam results are out on the 1st. week of January, school selections are done in the last week of January, and second selections are done 1st. week of February, They report to school in mid-February, In the first week of March they are all supposed to be in school and finally we are able to compile an accurate report of where they have all reported 2nd. week of March.

Post-secondary program is now complete

We are happy to report that we have now finalized the post-secondary program which has details of when the student graduates to the time they are enrolled in post-secondary programs which include computer classes which are very important in Kenya in furthering one’s career. When they are supposed to get the identification papers and participate in seminars in the office as well as resume writing, communication skills, and career assessment when they are supposed to get the final marks from schools and the process that will include the NRCF Scholarship Committee? We have also come up with processes for how they will be enrolled in post-secondary programs and the follow-up needed.

Welcome to our new post-secondary department leader

Joy, who has a Diploma in Community Development and has worked with teenagers with similar backgrounds to our children’s, has been employed to work with our children and make sure the above is accomplished for the post-secondary students. Since her first day with NRCF on the 3rd. of November she has proved to be a very hard-working lady who will make sure the above is accomplished.

Thank you for all you do for us here in Nairobi.

Peter Ndungu
Executive Director, Ngong Road Children’s Foundation