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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Wepowerment Legacy Circle

Ruby and Gene Hermeier, Wepowerment Legacy Circle benefactors

We are pleased to introduce the Wepowerment Legacy Circle of Friends of Ngong Road, our estate and planned giving program. During 2023, the founding year, you are invited to join the 11 declared members by designating a planned gift to create a legacy of education.

Including Friends of Ngong Road in your estate plans allows us to celebrate you during your lifetime and honor you and your family for years to come. As you are writing or amending your will, please consider a planned gift to sponsor a student, endow a named scholarship, or support our programs where the need is greatest.

You can read about the options for making a planned gift and find a form on our website to join our Wepowerment Legacy Circle. Have you already included Friends of Ngong Road in your estate plans? Let us know!

For more information, please contact Carole Patrikakos, Executive Director, at carole@ngongroad.org.

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The Art Club

We have recently launched a new art club to nurture the artistic talent of our young beneficiaries. The club, which is led by the dynamic duo of Mr. Grandsan and Mr. Jonnie, aims to introduce the wonders of the arts, provide a platform for young artists to showcase their talents, and pave the way for a promising future.

The club was launched on the 18th of this month, and the first day was about introducing the children to the world of arts. The children were given a variety of art activities to try, including painting, drawing, dancing, and singing. They were also encouraged to share their own creative ideas.

The club’s goals include introducing the arts to the children, providing a stage for expression, laying out the path to becoming an artist for those who are naturally talented, and encouraging independence early on in order to secure a future source of income. The club’s leaders believe that the arts have the power to transform lives, and they are committed to providing children with the opportunity to explore their creativity and reach their full potential.

With your help, Ngongroad Children’s Foundation can continue to allow its young beneficiaries to explore their creativity and reach their full potential. 

Donate today and help us make a difference in the lives of these children.

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Alumni Small Business Training

In recognition of the growing importance of small businesses in the Kenyan economy, we took the initiative to provide a comprehensive training program for our alumni who either have existing small businesses or are planning to venture into the business industry.

The training program intends to empower alumni with essential skills and knowledge for navigating business challenges effectively and achieving success.

It conducted over two months, has covered a range of topics essential for small business owners to thrive in a competitive market.

The training was being conducted by Be The Leader (BTL) led by Lydia Ontiri at the Lutheran Church along Ngong Road. The training provided a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of small business management. Some of the topics covered included:

  • Generation of business idea

The participants learned effective techniques to generate innovative business ideas and identify gaps in the market. They gained insights into market research, customer analysis, and the importance of value propositions in developing a business concept.

  • Writing and presenting business plans for a grant request

Acquiring skills in crafting business plans to secure grants and funding involves learning to present business goals, strategies, and the impact of the business.

  • Financial management

Understanding the financial aspects of their business and learning risk management to safely safeguard their ventures

  • Marketing and pitching

They also gained insights into marketing segmentation, branding of their businesses, and customer acquisition techniques. Additionally, they have sharpened their pitching skills to effectively communicate their business ideas

An exhibition took place on the 19th of March at the NRCF offices. The exhibition provided an opportunity for the trainees to showcase their products.

Two Strathmore University judges assessed displays, accompanied by 2 student exhibitors showcasing their business products at the event.

The training has successfully equipped 10 alumni with skills in business management and we would like to express our gratitude to Be The Leader for providing training and guidance to these alumni. 

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Handover Ceremony for Computer Donations From Safaricom Foundation

Ngong road children’s Foundation

Our mission at Ngong Road Children’s Foundation is to ensure that we transform the lives of our students. To improve education and resources, we applied for computer donations at Safaricom Foundation through the ‘Ndoto Zetu’ which translates to ‘Our Dreams’ initiative, we are aiming to acquire more computers for our Blockchain and Computer Labs.

The Safaricom Foundation through the “Ndoto Zetu” initiative partners with different organizations and communities and support them in transforming lives by providing them with the needed resources and opportunities. They have worked with communities across all 47 counties in Kenya to provide solutions on Education, Health, Economic Empowerment, Water, Environmental Conservation, and Disaster Response, which are key sectors in empowering and providing relief for communities. We were honored when our application was considered and we received the computer donation. 

On Thursday, the 3rd of May we had a handover ceremony for the computer donation. The event took place at NRCF offices, featuring Safaricom Foundation representatives, our program manager, our employment program officer, and some of our TechMates. The event aimed to acknowledge and celebrate the donation’s positive impact on our students’ education.

NRCF thanks the Safaricom Foundation for its donations and for joining us at the handover ceremony. The computer contribution will allow TechMates and high school grads participating in the coding bootcamp to efficiently study and enhance their talents, which will undoubtedly help them get better prospects in the future. We have equipped the Elimu Hub’s computer lab with extra computers for children, aiming to create a brighter future for our students through technology and collaboration.

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Coding partnership with DirectEd Development Foundation

Ngong road children’s foundation

The world has now fully digitalized, and computer literacy has become the norm. We have slowly moved from basic computer skills and ushered in the computer programming era. We want to make sure that as our students transition to higher education, they can be able to get this much-needed skill. 

In our quest to achieve the above, we recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding and forged a partnership with DirectEd Development Foundation. DirectEd is a UK-based charitable organization on a mission to deliver evidence-based, highly scalable, and cost-effective coding boot camps and scholarships to under-resourced high-potential students in Africa, through the use of blockchain technology and decentralized identifiers. They so far have partnered with different top learning institutions in Kenya and Ethiopia. Some of the institutions in Kenya include Kagumo high school, Mang’u high school, and Maryhill girls high school. We are excited to be part of this partnership.

In this partnership, DirectEd tutors will offer our 2022 high school graduates a three-part program. The program have repackaged existing material into a structure that suits low-resource hybrid-learning settings. The 1-week mobile-based coding course is the first program.

This particular programme is based on open-source material from Harvard’s CS50 introduction to Python. It is done remotely which means that the students will make use of their phones and we will allow those who do not have access to a smartphone to come to the Elimu Hub. They can make use of the resources available in the computer lab. The team from DirectEd will also help the students to set up the necessary infrastructure for the stipend disbursement.

The second programme which is the main programme is a 12-week computer-based hybrid programme. Here, students will learn full-stack web development in the MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node) framework. This programme will also feature some guest lecturers hosting workshops on key soft skills such as acing job interviews and entrepreneurship, with the students studying for at least 40 hours a week. Lastly, the graduate programme. This programme is for students who will have successfully completed the coding programme, and it has two paths. One, entry into a longer full-time coding bootcamp or two, a 6-months internship with specialization in a particular skill while getting real-work experience with DirectEd’s tech partner companies.

For all the 3 programs, our students need to have attained a specific threshold to move to the next. We will utilize ICT personnel to assist our students in maximizing their chances of advancing to the graduate program. Profound thankfulness to DirectEd Development Foundation for this life-changing partnership for our students. Grateful to the people at Lido Nation, particularly Stephanie King, for being a central part of connecting us with them. We are excited to see our students transform their lives.