Podcast Archives - Friends of Ngong Road

November 4, 2020 By Steve Kotvis Leave a Comment

The Sponsor/Student Portal Experience

Since its inception, Friends of Ngong Road has operated with the principle of establishing one-on-one relationships between sponsors and students. Up to this point, relationships were created largely by encouraging communications, namely exchanges of letters and materials sent through the mail or hand-carried between the U.S. and Kenya. This past year, the organization enhanced the ability for sponsors and students to become connected by establishing the Sponsor/Student Portal.

While many are still exploring the Sponsor/Student Portal as a new tool, its possibilities for use seem limitless.

And especially in this time of Covid-19 imposed realities — where distance learning, social isolation, and many of us are learning to embrace technology to connect (who hasn’t joined a Zoom call?). We believed initiating a dialogue with pioneering sponsors and students was a sound approach to explore their innovative usage.

We engaged in a Zoom talk with FONR sponsor Jeri Pearcy. She and husband Jeff live in Milwaukee, supporting Nairobi’s student, Perpetual.

Our conversation (available in its entirety here on Illumini Podcast) resulted in a wonderful conversation, starting with how they first met in 2008 and continuing with how they have shared letters through the mail over the years. Today, both Perpetual and Jeri are coping with the pandemic.

They unveiled a profound revelation, demonstrating their mutual outlook on adapting to Covid-19’s challenges, despite differing circumstances. During the discussion on the Sponsor/Student Portal, Perpetual and Jeri explored the technology, finding it convenient and user-friendly. They expressed gratitude for email speed but also want to exchange photos, news, articles and school work more frequently.

Jeri is a retired nurse practitioner and teacher, and Perpetual is focused on post-secondary education as a systems and business analyst.

The conversation encompassed benefits reaped by Jeri, a sponsor, and Perpetual, a sponsored student, through Friends of Ngong Road connections. Expressing the unspoken connection’s energy in writing is challenging. Yet, through Zoom, the palpable loving energy became evident.

We hope you enjoy listening in!

November 16, 2017 By Lacey Kraft Leave a Comment

2017 Annual Gathering Recap

This year’s Annual Gathering, themed “Ready, Willing & Able”, was held at Surly Brewery on Monday, November 13. It was a huge success thanks to the many who came to hear an update on the program, and the success of the students, and meet Maureen Mulievi, Ngong Road Children’s Foundation Program Director who was visiting from Nairobi.

Paula Meyer, Friends of Ngong Road Founder and President, highlighted the success of the first ten years of the organization that is proven through the organization’s own data. After post-secondary education, 91% of students find employment or internships, moving towards full-time work.

Kenya’s employment rate is around 60%, while first-time young adult workers face just 15% employment opportunity. Paula noted that this organization is “Ready” to continue transforming lives going forward.

Maureen Mulievi, Program Director in Kenya, then shared about her background growing up in rural Kenya in a large family. Her father was a teacher and farmer and believed in educating girls. At the time, the popular belief in the rural community was that educating a girl was a wasted investment as the girl would marry young and only enhance the new spouse’s family, not her own.

Finally, Evan and Meghan Feige, young professionals from the Twin Cities, talked about their experience launching a pilot life skills program in Kenya In January 2017. They plan to return to Kenya in January 2018 to launch a comprehensive life skills program for all secondary students and recent graduates with the support of Rotary International.

As always, the gathering was a reminder that the mission of transforming lives is only possible because of the committed and diverse community of people who care about providing access to education for children who otherwise would not have a chance.

If you did not get to attend the event, we invite you to listen to the Illumini Podcast produced by longtime volunteer, Steve Kotvis.

Steve has interviewed Paula and Maureen and intends to release a third interview with the Feiges. This will provide individuals who were unable to attend the Annual Gathering with a more comprehensive understanding of the discussions.

Listening is fun for anyone, whether they are new to or already familiar with the organization. Go ahead and check it out!

January 15, 2017 By Lacey Kraft Leave a Comment

Dr. Sally Kenney joins Friends of Ngong Road Board of Directors

Friends of Ngong Road has added an educator to its board of directors. A native of Iowa, Sally J. Kenney earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Iowa, a B.A. and M.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University. From 1989-1995, she held a joint appointment in Political Science, Women’s Studies, and Law at the University of Iowa.

She served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 1995-2009 where she also directed the Center on Women and Public Policy. She joined Tulane University in 2010 as the first Newcomb College Endowed Chair, the executive director of the Newcomb College Institute, and a Professor of Political Science. The Newcomb College Institute is an interdisciplinary, academic center whose mission is to educate undergraduate women about leadership. In that role, she pioneered a service learning summer program to bring Tulane students to NRCF’s annual camp. Last year, she led three students.

Sally’s research interests include gender and judging, judicial selection, feminist social movements, women and electoral politics, the European Court of Justice, exclusionary employment policies, and pregnancy discrimination. Her latest book is Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter (2013). She has close relationships with the Kenyan Women’s Judges Association. Her current research focuses on sexual assault on campus and women’s leadership. She also studies Swahili.

Sally has been to Kenya four times, first in 2011, as a sponsor of Sharon. In the intervening years, she sponsored three children and met NRCF students through camp participation in 2015 and 2016. Sally and her husband Norman Foster have no children of their own. Sally met Emmanuel Jal, a former child warrior who runs a program for Sudanese orphans in Kenya last summer. Jal believes that Sudan has a proverb that whoever takes in an orphan will never feel lonely in old age. Sally feels fortunate to be involved in this project, which now has 400 children, she feels like they are her own

In the Illumini Podcast, Steve Kotvis interviews Sally about how volunteers bring their unique talents to Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children’s Foundation. Sally explores sponsor connections’ value in Ngong Road Children’s Foundation program, highlighting insightful findings.