Children grow up one day at a time and while it is happening, it can feel so very slow. Friends of Ngong Road is finishing its thirteenth year of operations and because of that, we have a large number of students who are now completing their education and launching careers. In September and October, 2019, twenty young people got new jobs. Here is a sampling…

• Selina, Mary, Cynthia, Lydia, and Ann got jobs as beauticians or nail technicians
• Stephen is working as a freelance computer technician
• Brian is working in the family business as a meat supplier
• Victor and Wycliffe are both working as entrepreneurs
• Hellen is working in a health care clinic, registering patients
• Margaret and Patrick are both working for Ngong Road Children Association
• Clinton is working as a refrigerator technician and Shammah as a plumber
• Vivian got a job in food service at Kenyatta National Hospital

One of the students my husband and I sponsored completed her education about four years ago and informed me over the weekend that she is finally going to officially get her diploma in December. Another that we sponsored will also get his diploma in December and is working as a civil engineer on a water project near Jomo Kenyatta Airport.

And, students who finished high school several years ago continue to work to improve their situations. Alice, who finished high school in 2013 and then had a baby, has gotten a part-time job at Safari.com working at corporate hosted events. Esther, who graduated in 2012, got a new job as a customer service representative for a VIP travel agency.

With each of these stories, we see themes familiar from our own lives. You finish your education, get a job, then perhaps a better job. Sometimes you get sidetracked for a while, but then there is a course correction and a new opportunity comes along.

These are now young adults living normal, productive, middle-class lives in Kenya. They have broken the cycle of poverty and broken free of the slums. This is our mission and in each person who gets a job, we say Mission Accomplished!

Thank you for being part of it, for being patient with students who get side-tracked and for celebrating with us for each life transformed.

Paula Meyer
Founder and President

Karibu Loo Business Continues to Stabilize and Grow
October was the fourth profitable month in a row for Karibu Loo. The business seems to have found its footing and is now a growing young business in a pioneering area.

Winner of “Best Sanitation Provider in Kenya” Award
In September the team applied for and won the Kenyan hospitality industry’s MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) Award for the “Best Sanitation Provider in Kenya”. The team was presented the award at a dinner event, which all the managers proudly attended. Since winning the award, the marketing staff have blasted the news out as an email to all current and prospective clients, featured it on the website and on Facebook. It is a source of pride for the whole organization.

Social Media Marketing Fueling Success
While our Business Development Manager remains focussed on institutional sales (especially schools and construction companies), a growing part of the business is coming from our emphasis on social media marketing. Maureen Mulieve, our Executive Director, hired a Google expert who has significantly increased our online presence and effectiveness. Our phone started ringing so much that we have had to go to a new phone system to keep up with the calls from individual customers and businesses. That combined with our MICE Award have helped both institutional and event driven sales.

Our Staff have become a Marketing Tool!
One of the key differentiators for Karibu Loo is that we hire only our program graduates for field work. Our Senior Associates accompany every delivery and set up the units at the events or construction sites. To amplify our presence, we bought Karibu Loo branded overalls for the four young men who drive our trucks and deliver our units. Our customers gave us immediate positive feedback on having our workers in their new bright-red branded overalls. Associates have always worn red t-shirts with the Karibu Loo logo, but when the weather is bad the kids put on rain gear, which immediately covers up the logo. We are buying raincoats for the Associates to wear and gain exposure for the brand at the same time.

Currently, all primary and secondary (Form One to Form Three) students are on a long holiday that will end on when schools resume on 6th January, 2020. Grade (class) 8 students took the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams on 31st October, 2019 while the final high school examination (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, or KCSE) for Form 4 (seniors) began on 4th November, 2019 and will end towards the end of November. The students had been prepared by their respective schools to tackle both key exams confidently.

During the long holiday, the students who are not sitting for exams will be taking part in various activities ranging from life skills sessions, career guidance and counselling, sexual/reproductive health training, menstrual hygiene education, drug use and abuse sensitization sessions, group discussions, library sessions and computer studies. The activities will take place concurrently with each class tackling a different area. The high school students will deal with life skills, group discussions, sexual/ reproductive health, computer studies and career counselling and mentorship. Primary school children will enjoy the library and computer studies. Drug use and abuse sensitization sessions are conducted for the upper classes (Grades 6 to 8). Menstrual hygiene education is offered for girls in upper classes. During this time, the children are happily receiving breakfast and lunch which couldn’t have been available were it not for your generosity towards NRCA.

Since the holiday period is long, we have expanded the Saturday Program so that the children are occupied with activities that exploit and realize their talents. Sessions are divided into four broad categories that are geared towards the holistic development of the children. This involves psychosocial health (yoga, cheering, singing, fun activities, brain games, talent shows and team building). Other areas are cognitive development (arts and crafts, book reading, debates and presentations, crosswords and puzzles), social development (clubs and societies, e.g. drama, music, scouts, dance club, journalism and St. John ambulance). Finally, physical development (soccer, katie, taekwondo, soccer, rugby, volleyball, handball and athletics). On Saturdays, children also enjoy a well-balanced lunch that is part of the nutrition program.

The highlight of the holiday season is the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all NRCA stakeholders (children, parents/guardians, local community, NRCA staff, volunteers and board members). During this meeting, we share our achievements, successes, challenges, lessons learnt and plans for the coming year. We normally share Christmas lunch as a family on this occasion. Families also receive a take-home Christmas pack comprising of a chicken, maize flour, wheat flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar, beans, vegetables and fruit. The event is scheduled for 7th December, 2019.

This year’s AGM is special since we will be launching our new entity – Ngong Road Children’s Foundation (NRCF). We will be transitioning from an “Association” to a “Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)”. The children are excited as they look forward to the event since it will be joined by the founder and President of Friends of Ngong Road, Paula Meyer. After the celebration children normally break for the Christmas holidays. Some travel to their rural areas to celebrate with their extended families while others remain behind to continue benefiting from what the program offers normally such as library and computer lab access.

Thank you all for creating a big impact in the lives of these once desperate and hopeless children who have been given an opportunity to transform their lives.

Sincerely,

Maureen Mulievi
Programme Director
Ngong Road Children Association

Kelvin recently returned from a ten-day visit to the U.S. Kelvin is the Programme Coordinator at Ngong Road Children Association and joined the organization in 2013 as a computer lab instructor. Today Kelvin leads our Information and Communications Technology Department, Summer Camp and Saturday Program hence he gets to interact with all the children in the program and understand them quite well. During his visit he was able to meet various sponsors and donors and spend time with the US based staff. Kelvin was able to help sponsors understand the supportive community programmes that their sponsored children engage in and how these programs help them in the journey of transforming their lives.

A tight schedule
During his time in the US, Kelvin traveled throughout Minnesota, Iowa and Texas meeting with sponsors and donors as well as giving presentations to churches (Christ Lutheran church of Alamo Heights and Our Saviors Lutheran Church in the San Antonio area, friends and family, and of course at our Annual Gathering and Friends of Friends fundraising breakfast. He also met individually with some sponsors and donors and gave insight regarding the students they sponsor.

Kelvin is responsible for the technology and budget planning, therefore he was able to spend time with the tech team and gain a deeper understanding of the systems that the organization is leveraging on to better support operations at NRCA. He also spent time board member in charge of financials and controls. He also spent time the strategic planning committee discussing the scaling plan.

In addition to these meetings, Kelvin was able to experience life in Minnesota where he visited some of the landmarks such as Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis sculpture garden and the Mall of America.  And he tried lots of new foods. He also had many opportunities for professional development working with our U.S. staff and board members and by meeting with other professional groups like the South Metro Minneapolis Evenings Rotary club and individuals like Paul Walker of Gallup to gain insight and experience.

A great experience
For Kelvin, the trip from Nairobi to Minnesota was a long one, but quite fulfilling since it was his first time in the US and first trip out of Africa.

Kelvin is grateful to the organization for giving him the chance to travel to the US and get all the exposure and interaction. He is also grateful to all the sponsors and donors who spent time with him and for allowing him to share his perspectives of the program.