Joy Obiya and George Odhiambo from Kenya Visiting U.S. in late October

We are delighted to welcome two Ngong Road Children Association case workers, Joy and George to the U.S. in late October.  

• Joy serves as head of the Post-Secondary and Alumni Department.  Her team helps recent high school graduates find a post-secondary program that matches their academic performance and interests; when they have finished their studies her team helps them find jobs. The program now has 83 students in post-secondary programs and 33 alumni.
• George is a caseworker with our primary-aged students and our first visitor who is a graduate of the program.  George joined the program in 2007, finished high school in 2013 and then completed a 2-year diploma in Community Development.  When he graduated, Ngong Road Children Association had a caseworker opening and George got the job.

Employment Results.  We have had 30 students complete post-secondary programs, and 28 of the 30, or 93%, secured a job or internship following graduation.  Many more will graduate in the coming months. We hope that with the support of our alumni caseworker, local board, and new life skills program that they will get jobs soon.  We already have some wonderful stories:

Etrose Adhiambo finished high school with an “E” which technically means she didn’t graduate.  However, she has been employed for the past year as a hostess in a cafeteria where government employees eat.  She is happy with her job and is able to help support her mother. Etrose did not complete any post-secondary education, but has become a responsible, contributing member of society.

Asaph Waweru finished a two-year diploma in Sales/Marketing.  While in college, Asaph sold t-shirts to help fund his schooling. When he completed his diploma, Karibu Loo hired him as a Marketing Assistant where he was responsible for booking loo rentals, managing social media and generally supporting sales efforts.  In late June, Asaph resigned from Karibu Loo having secured a better-paying job at Patialla Distillers. Karibu Loo was sorry to lose him, but happy that his career is now launched.

Gabriella Emma Atieno finished her two-year diploma in Information Technology.  She now serves as a Customer Sales Representative for Techno Brain, explaining company products and services to customers.

Lori Harris always wanted to sponsor a child, but she was skeptical. She served in law enforcement for over twenty years and had seen and heard too many stories of the funds not getting to the children and programs with big executive salaries. Then her pastor, who knew about the program through her colleague at seminary, invited founder and president, Paula Meyer, to speak at their church.

She was impressed by the transparency that Meyer and the Friends of Ngong Road program offered. She appreciated the sustainable model they worked to create. Lori had never heard of a program where you could go to the country and meet the students, see their schools, hear the stories of their guardians, and really make a difference. She decided to become a sponsor.

Lori’s connection with Friends of Ngong Road and her students deepened when she traveled to Kenya with Meyer and other sponsors in 2012. Lori says, “My experience on that trip cemented my belief, trust and passion for the program, which grew exponentially as I was able to see firsthand where my money went. I was able to see the passion and dedication in the teachers and the enthusiasm of the children and sincere appreciation for the program to give them a brighter future.”

Lori feels blessed to have had the chance to learn about kids on the other side of the globe. She enjoys reading their letters and cherishes the memory of meeting her students and their families.

Lori sponsored Fredrick who graduated with his certificate in construction and plant mechanics at the Kenya Institute of Highway and Building Technology in 2017. He is working in construction in northern Kenya and has been an Associate with Karibu Loo. Lori also sponsors
Esther in Form 1 (freshman in high school) and John in Class 4 (grade 4).

If you are interested in traveling to Kenya with Friends of Ngong Road, please contact Lacey Kraft at lacey@ngongroad.org or 612-568-4211.

Summer Camp was a big success. A big thank you to all who supported it.
2018 Summer Camp was a big success because everything was implemented as planned thanks to the camp leaders, campers, Post-Secondary student volunteers, NRCA staff, U.S. volunteers, NRCA board, FoNR board, our sponsors, donors and well-wishers who made it possible. Camp attendance was very high for all the groups. Little kids camp, grammar and senior camp at 100%, 92% and 91% respectively. For post-secondary camp, the attendance was lower at 55% since many students were doing their end of semester exams in the first week of August. We had no major emergencies, except one of the boys dislocated his wrist during one of the games.

Children got a chance to enjoy a balanced diet thanks to Tile and Carpet (our corporate partner) who donated most of the dry food. The traveling logistics were a success despite the long distance to the camp which was tiresome. All the activities were good and the children enjoyed them very much. There was a great show of team spirit and collaboration during camp activities ranging from fun sports activities, problem solving games, Crazy games and “Olympics” sports games. The evening activities, like dance contests, offered the children a platform to explore and nurture their talents. The climax of camp for most students was a field trip to William Holden Animal Foundation and Ngare Ndare Forest Trust that offered our students a great exposure to natural resources and conservation practices.

Progress of the Sexual Reproductive Health Program
The NRCA Sexual Reproductive Health Program (SRH) using a Youth Peer Provider model was launched in December 2017. The objective of the program is to provide accurate and comprehensive information and training regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescents and young adults to remain free from unintended pregnancy, prevention of HIV and STIs including access to contraceptives.

The SRH Program is run and facilitated by NRCA Youth Peer Providers (YPPs), who are students recruited to receive training and information. A total of 15 YPPs were trained by Planned Parenthood Global. After the training, we selected 10 trainees out of the 15 whom we felt were most capable and ready to disseminate the information to their peers at NRCA.

The 10 YPPs are effectively offering reproductive health training, guidance and counseling to their peers. They also refer them to Riruta Health Centre, a local government clinic we are partnering with located in Dagoretti Constituency for further counseling and contraceptives.  Riruta Health Center offers free youth friendly services such as counseling, contraceptives and STI and HIV testing and treatment. It is an important resource for the young adults as we do not offer contraception directly to students apart from condoms and emergency contraceptives.

The SRH Program Coordinator is Joy Obiya, our post-secondary caseworker. Joy provides oversight of the program and meets periodically with the YPPs to provide support and address any emerging challenges.

Since the inception of the SRH Program, that is, from December, 2017, to August, 2018, a total number of 335 students have been trained. The sessions were conducted during school holidays at the Nelson Mandela School, NRCA offices and during August summer camp in Nanyuki

The program is having a great impact to the trainees by improving their knowledge in SRH, helping them in developing self-confidence and self-esteem and creating a safe space for them in matters pertaining reproductive health. This has positively changed attitudes, clarified myths & misconceptions, strengthened informed decision-making and provided them with access to condoms and other contraceptives.

We want to appreciate all our sponsors, donors and well-wishers who contributed towards the success of this program. Special gratitude goes to Prof. Sally Kenney, Prof. Patricia Kissinger, Kelsey Williams and other Tulane University students who worked tirelessly and continue to support us to ensure the success of the program.

Karibu Loo Update
Karibu Loo Limited is performing fairly well. We are happy to report that the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) business is back with training sessions taking place in the northern part of Kenya specifically in Nanyuki, Laikipia and Samburu.

With the new truck that we purchased in May thanks to the generosity of a few individual donors, operations at KLL have been smooth. The donations also helped purchase a new exhauster and more cabins.

At KLL, we continue to focus on KLL’s objectives as follows: Generate a stream of income that will provide 25% of NRCA’s annual operating budget, provide employment for graduates of the program and other Kenyans and improve sanitation in Kenya. We are on track to achieve our first objective and efforts are geared towards making the business more profitable. We continue to provide employment to our graduates and by now over 50 NRCA graduates have had a chance to work in the company, with 30 being regular associates and four permanent employees. The newest permanent KLL employees from NRCA graduates are Norman Ruguaru working as an Administration and Marketing Assistant and Simon Odhiambo working as an Operations Associate. The two are both aged 22 years and graduated from the Form Four class (senior) of 2015. Simon did not pursue post-secondary education thus the training he is receiving at KLL is very valuable to him. Norman enrolled for a certificate course in Nature Interpretation and Tour Administration at the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute and is scheduled to graduate in April, 2019.

We are thrilled to announce this year’s Annual Gathering, with the theme of ‘Live, Love, Learn’.

Please join us on Thursday, October 25th from 6-8pm as we gather to connect, browse Kenyan handicrafts, hear about the successes of our students in the past year, and meet staff and volunteers.

Come and enjoy a craft beer at Surly Brewing Co. with other supporters of our organization. Bring a friend or two, and we will see you there!

Surly Brewing Co. Scheid Hall, 520 Malcom Avenue SE, Mpls., MN 55414.

Program at 6:30 PM.