Friends of Ngong Road

We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.

By Leave a Comment

New Sponsor Portal Enhancement

We are excited to announce enhancements to the Sponsor Portal! 

When you log into your portal now, you will see at the top we have added “How to communicate with your student” and “Reference Center” links. When you click on these links they take you to additional resources.

Communicating with your student

In this section you will find:

  • Written instructions and videos on how to communicate with your student
  • Tips for writing to your student, including topics, what to avoid and safety considerations

Reference Center

In this section you will find:

  • Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs)
  • Our policy on providing gifts to your sponsored student
  • Definitions of frequently used terminology and acronyms 
  • Educational videos on topics such as the Kenyan school system and Ngong Road Children’s Foundation programming

Need Help?

  • How to contact technical support

In an effort to ensure that sponsors have the best experience and can utilize the portal as a resource center we will continue to make upgrades and provide additional content.  If you are a sponsor, you can help us by completing the Anonymous Portal Survey. Your feedback will help us in our work.  

By Leave a Comment

National Exams Results

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) is the final exam that Kenyan high school students take before graduating. The exam is crucial because it determines if a student will attend a four-year university, a two-to three-year college, or a trade school.

The KCSE national exam was a little different in 2022 for a couple of reasons. One reason is the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted learning in Kenya, particularly in 2020 and 2021. Many students were absent from class due to lockdowns, school closures, and quarantine measures. The government attempted to mitigate the pandemic’s impact by offering online classes and broadcasting studies on radios and televisions. The other reason for the difference is the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which is being phased in gradually and will fully replace the current system in 2027.

The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) administered the 2022 KCSE over three weeks in November 2022. The exams assessed students’ understanding and mastery of a variety of subjects, including Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, History, and Geography.

The KNEC officially released the KCSE results for the 2022 cohort in late January 2023. The exam was taken by 881,416 people in total, 28 of our students among them. We once again had a student, Boaz, receive a grade of A-, which is one of the highest grades a student can receive. Six of our students will be pursuing degree programs at various universities, 12 will be pursuing diploma programs at various colleges, and the rest will be able to pursue a certification program of their choice.

One intriguing aspect of this cohort is that five of our students are already interested in pursuing  computer-related courses. All interested students will participate in a three-month Web Development Boot Camp, which may entice even more students to enroll in STEM-related courses. As they wait to enroll in their various post-secondary institutions, the students will participate in other programs such as Life Skills training, career counseling, volunteer work, and other special programs.

By Leave a Comment

Waiting Students

Blessing

Blessing is an eight-year-old charming young girl. She lives with her aunt in Kabiria, a village in the Dagoretti constituency.  She has an elder brother, Sean, who lives with another relative. Her mother passed away in 2021 and she has been staying with her aunt since then.

A bright student, she has big aspirations for her future academic life and career. The only thing hindering her success is getting a quality education. Blessing would like to be an educator and she particularly wants to teach literature and Swahili so it is not a surprise that languages are her favorite subjects. She also loves modeling as well as fashion and design and she would like to one day own her clothing line and design beautiful dresses for women and young girls. She is optimistic that her hard work and resilience will definitely bear fruit and that her life will be better. 

Blessing currently studies at Jagiet Academy, which is one of our focus schools. If she joins the program she will continue in the same school. She promises to continue with the good performance that she always has in school if she gets the opportunity for sponsorship.

Ashbel

Ashbel is 9 years old and he lives with his parents and a one-and-a-half-year-old sister by the name of Ivana. Both his parents are casual laborers, so they work hand in hand to provide for their families. 

Ashbel is currently schooling at Ndurarua Primary School but when he gets a sponsor and joins the program, he will join Jagiet Academy, one of our focus schools. As can be seen from the latest school results, Ashbel is a bright student. His favorite subjects are mathematics and English. He enjoys watching animation shows on television during his leisure time at home.  While in school, he loves playing ball games with his friends. He desires to be a pilot and not just a pilot, but the most outstanding pilot in the world after he successfully completes his studies. He loves nature and traveling and being a pilot will enable him to have both experiences while doing what he loves. 

Ashbel would benefit from quality education in the program and work towards fulfilling his dreams. He is a promising young man and education will be a great way to empower him and push him toward a successful future.

By Leave a Comment

Vatican Trip – Visit with Pope

Tunda Lepore at International Fund for Agricultural Development

Tunda Lepore is the Senior Case Manager in the Primary department. She is an Indigenous woman from the Maasai community. Her early childhood experience where she had to overcome both community and peer pressure to go through female genital cut and early marriage inspired her to become a children’s rights champion. 

Tunda attended the 6th Global forum of indigenous people at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome. The Forum is the place for indigenous representatives to give recommendations to IFAD and the Member States of the United Nations regarding IFAD’s programs in the countries. She was honored to present the synthesis of deliberation from the Forum to the Governing Council. She also had an opportunity to visit Vatican City on 10th Feb and talk with Pope Francis. Tunda says that this was a great opportunity to continue learning, networking, and growing in her leadership journey for the work she does at Ngong Road Children Foundation.

NRCF case manager Tunda Lepore meets Pope Francis at Vatican City

By Leave a Comment

Alumni Camp

The Alumni Camp was held from January 20th to the 22nd at the Duara Flamingo Camp, located in Elementaita, Nakuru (Lake Elementaita Lodge). The camp celebrated the accomplishments of the 2022 post-secondary graduates, welcomed them to the alumni association, and provided their first job preparedness training.

We had a total of 36 campers that included 31 alumni, 3 staff members, and 2 facilitators from the organization. We had a number of activities and training that were meant to develop employability skills and emotional intelligence. There was a training session conducted by Be The Leader (BTL) on job interview skills, digital marketing, entrepreneurship skills, and career development. The objective of the training was to teach them how to be outstanding during an interview, how to make themselves visible to potential employers via social media, and the basics of starting a business. There were also a number of team competition activities like crazy games and olympics. The alumni also had a chance to visit the Kariandusi prehistoric site and African Diatomite Industries Ltd to learn about the mining of diatomite (from skeletons of very tiny animals called diatoms) and its uses.

The camp was a success and we hope that the alumni were impacted positively by all the training and activities.