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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Karibu Loo Digital Marketing

In an effort to help Karibu Loo Ltd (the for-profit company created by Friends of Ngong Road to provide employment for our graduates and create a revenue source to support our mission) gain more visibility and boost traffic to our refreshed website, we have been running two digital marketing campaigns. The website refresh and ad campaigns are executed by members and graduates of the TechMates training program on our campus in Nairobi.

Google Ads are the cornerstone of our marketing

In March 2021, Karibu Loo launched a Google Ads campaign. The Google Ads program enables users to create online ads that reach targeted audiences interested in the offered products and services.

After a “start-up” period, the campaign was a success, driving a significant increase in call volume and resulting in stronger business performance.

Year-to-date, we have received over one million impressions, garnered over nineteen thousand clicks, and achieved 282 conversions (conversions are artificially depressed because customers are able to call us directly without being measured by Google). Using these metrics, the Google Ads program is Karibu Loo’s most successful digital marketing campaign.

Facebook Ads are proving to be very successful

Karibu Loo began testing Facebook ads in 2021 on its Facebook page.  Ads ran featuring our loos and various offers and headlines (see the three examples below). For very low expenditure ($8.00 – $10.00 USD weekly) we received very satisfactory weekly impressions (between 2000 and 8000), high click-through rates, and several direct contacts. This led us to believe that a full Facebook ads campaign had merit. 

They launched the full Facebook campaign after Kenya’s August 2022 general election. Since its inception, the campaign has contributed significantly to Karibu Loo’s brand visibility. Our own U.S.-based creative genius volunteers, Steve Kotvis and Paul Schupanitz, created the campaign, focusing on our program graduates who work full- or part-time as “Associates” for Karibu Loo. 

With the tagline ‘Use our loos and educate too’ and a photo of Associates/program graduates (see the three examples below). The campaign fueled Karibu Loo’s Facebook growth, gathering 70k users, securing 2k likes, and strengthening community engagement. Most of these ads are reaching 20,000 – 35.000 viewers weekly and generate between 100 and 500 “likes” each. The more people who “like” our page, the easier it is for others to discover our brand.

The TechMate assigned to Karibu Loo (Tabitha) presents the results of both campaigns at our weekly Karibu Loo staff meetings. She, along with other TechMates, refreshed the Karibu Loo website, improved our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) status, and continually refine our Google Ads and keyword usage.

Karibu Loo is very proud of these successful campaigns.

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Join us in Africa!

Have you ever thought about traveling to Kenya (Africa) to meet your student? Do you want to experience a life-changing trip with your family or friends? Is it a dream of yours to go on a photo safari? Your dream can become a reality. Friends of Ngong Road is planning a trip to Kenya tentatively planned for August 2023 or February 2024 uniquely designed for our sponsors, donors, friends, and their families.

The itinerary will include time with students, a visit to their homes, a school tour, and time at the Saturday Program.  You will also visit our new student center, Elimu Hub. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see some Kenya national parks, African wildlife, and the uniqueness that Nairobi, and Africa, has to offer. 

Contact Naomi at naomi@ngongroad.org if you are interested in learning more. We will follow up with more details on the itinerary, timing, and costs. There will be an online information session to provide more details about the experience, answer any questions you may have, and meet fellow travelers.

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Elimu Hub is being well-utilized

The new Elimu hub student center includes a computer laboratory and library to provide learning activities and resources for our students.  

Primary students take weekly computer classes

There are many benefits of introducing computers to children at an early age. It prepares them for future usage in many professional fields that require these skills. It increases their self-esteem, builds self-confidence, and boosts their problem-solving skills. Students from Nelson Mandela (near the campus) are able to attend during the school week while other students receive intensive exposure on the weekends.

Creative classes on Saturday i.e. Canvas & Coding

As part of the Saturday Program, we are introducing creative computer classes where primary students are taught to use creative tools such as Canvas to create decorative posts for sponsors and to learn basic coding skills.

Internet – Web surfing and student/sponsor communication portal

The students are taught how to use the internet to do school research within their level and how to access and log in to their portals to write/reply to sponsor messages and access their photos and other resources in the portal.

Secondary students attend advanced courses

WordPress training

Secondary students are required to attend computer classes during their holiday including a WordPress course. At the end of the training, they are required to build their online portfolios/websites. The training acts as preparation for the training course with Belmont College after high school.

Internet – Web surfing, NRCF Communication portal, and Google mail

The students are taught how to use the internet to do school research and learn to use the Google Suite tools such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. They are taught to access and log in to their student/sponsor portal to send sponsor messages and access their photos and other resources.

Post-secondary students attend formal courses and do research

High school grads computer training– The two-month training program by Belmont International College will be conducted in our computer lab, which is now equipped with new and fast desktops (thank you to all that helped to fund these needed computers).

Research space for students

The computer lab is open to all students and alumni of the program to conduct research or do assignments. Students use the computers in the lab to access the communication portal to send and receive emails to and from their sponsors.

Library is a place for discovery

School textbooks & revision materials.

The library, with the help of the new Kenyan curriculum project leader, is in the process of identifying school textbooks for all school levels that align with the new curriculum.  

Storybooks/novels

Currently, the library has various genres that students borrow and read within our premises. This activity continues in the new library with a plan of adding more.

Library support

The librarian ensures each student borrows a book at least once every school term. A report is issued each year indicating how many books each student has read.  Each student completes a questionnaire upon returning the book to encourage the student to read their story books.   

Art and Design 

Art and design stimulate creativity and imagination, providing visual and sensory experiences and a special way of understanding and responding to issues. Through learning about the roles and functions of art, students can explore the impact it has had on contemporary life. 

The students will have access to materials that they cannot access from home and are limited at school. They will be able to:

  • Showcase their artwork to sponsors.  For example;  drawing, cardmaking, flower making using different materials, etc
  • Record first-hand experiences or their imaginative ideas to use in their work. 
  • Develop creativity and imagination through a range of complex activities
  • Increase their critical awareness and boost their confidence and have fun.

Reading and study space

Most of our students’ homes are not conducive to studying. The library space is utilized by students during holidays and weekends for reading, studying, and assignments. Students also come for assistance with their assignments from TechMates interns.

Students will have read-aloud and around sessions, where they will be able to share lessons, terms, and group book reading.  Book club sessions, “Little Gurus”, for grades 5 and 6 students will resume.

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Notes From Paula

Dear friends,

I had the pleasure of visiting Nairobi from June 23 – 30 for the first time since February 2020.  This was my 26th trip to Kenya and I left with three major impressions related to our work through Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF).

  1. Leadership is everything.  I believe that organizations grow and thrive when they are well-led. We have been working toward developing effective leadership in Kenya that is both a reflection of Kenyan culture yet also responsive to American leadership norms. Kelvin Thuku (Programme Manager for NRCF) and his leadership team are doing an excellent job of leading the organization and it shows.  Our staff is long-tenured and mature.  It is clear that they have built a culture where team members bring their best ideas to work and feel comfortable tackling challenging problems.

I observed the team discuss issues in our post-secondary program; they were clear on the problems to be solved and very vocal about solutions.  I visited the Saturday Program and saw a well-organized, orderly program for 150 elementary-age students. We had many programs running concurrently while I was in Kenya – computer training for recent high school graduates, parent meetings for post-secondary students, Life Skills training, etc. – and it all worked smoothly.

  1. Get educated and get a job.  We have done well in helping students get educated, yet we know we have room for improvement in supporting alumni on their employment journey.  We conducted our 2nd Alumni Survey in late June and learned that 51% of graduates had a job at the time of the survey, 80% had one or more jobs in the past 12 months and 72% of alumni are supporting other family members.  These results are modestly improved from 2021. While I was there, our new Employment Services Manager (Martha Otieno) began her job.  She brings strong skills and background in workforce development and good understanding of the employment market in Nairobi.  I expect she will have a positive impact on employment among our alumni. 
  1. Even if a student’s path leaves the main road, they find a way.  I spent time with many alumni while in Nairobi, including at least 10 whose education journey was less than we hoped for.  In every case, I found young adults who have grown, are more mature, and are piecing a life together.  Some are back in the slums, but they have one or more businesses or are employed. If there are children, they are in school.  Some are working in the gig economy and earning a living by doing several things like contract workers in our economy. Some are looking for a better job or getting more education or trying to move out of contract employment to more permanent jobs.  Most of them are building on the education they earned; they are determined and succeeding. 

Sometimes the road taken is not straight.  We have 183 alumni from this program whose lives are better than they would have been without education.  In most cases, alumni are building a life and by the time they get into their 20s, they understand the incredible gift they have been given.  Thank you to each and every one of you who have helped these students in their journey.

Warmly,

Paula