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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Help Transform Lives – Contribute to Our Annual Appeal!

The students we serve face more challenges than most of us can imagine. They learn early on that to survive they must embrace resilience, facing their challenges with hope, drive, passion, courage, and kindness.

We are grateful to all our sponsors who make classroom education possible for individual students.  Sponsorships cover the costs of school fees and uniforms, but Friends of Ngong Road also provides unique program support to empower students to succeed and transform their lives. These include our Life Skills Program, career counseling, employment support, basic medical care, the Saturday Program, computer certification, case managers, etc.  Our Annual Appeal directly supports these initiatives. 

Thank you to the many friends who have already donated to our annual appeal.  We are making great progress but still need additional supporters to achieve our goal of raising $170,000 by year-end. 

Your support will be DOUBLED thanks to the $85,000 matching gift from the Ted and Kathy Truscott Family Foundation.  

It’s not too late!  Help us transform lives.

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Over 20 students have lost their sponsors. Consider sponsoring an additional student. Meet Leon.

Over the past year, more than 20 students have lost their sponsors. This is due to a variety of reasons, including the economic impact of COVID 19. The students are continuing their education, but are in need of a new sponsor.

This is Leon’s story.

Leon is 16 years old and attending Karima High School, a boys-only boarding secondary school that is one of the best national schools. He has been in the program for eight years and his sponsor recently needed to discontinue support.  His sponsor’s support helped him get to this level of education and gain leadership skills through the Life Skills program, summer camp, and the Saturday program. He was a student leader in the primary department and also a squad leader during the 2019 summer camp. Leon has become assertive and gained self-confidence through these leadership roles.

Leon lives with his grandmother and two aunts. The grandmother makes beaded items, sews sweaters, crotchets tablecloths for an income. She also works as a Community Health Volunteer.

Leon’s family lives in a two-roomed house in Ngando slums. The house is made of old rusty iron sheets. Unlike most families in the slum, Leon’s home has electricity so he can study comfortably during school breaks. They buy water for domestic use from a nearby vendor. Leon sleeps on a bed. The family uses charcoal or kerosene stove to cook their meals as they are the most affordable. They share a bathroom and pit latrine with their neighbors.

Leon is an intelligent, focused, and hardworking student. He performs well academically and is usually among the top-performing students in his class. He would like to become a pilot in the future. He is outgoing, confident, and self-driven. 

Sponsors discontinue support for a variety of reasons. We have committed to supporting students who enter our program until they finish their education. So when they lose a sponsor it’s important for us to find a new sponsor. If you already sponsor a student, would you consider sponsoring another one whose sponsor left? We are fortunate that someone has stepped up to sponsor Leon. But there are many other waiting students like him who need your help to ensure they can continue their studies and achieve their dreams. Explore all the waiting students here.

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Greetings from Kelvin

Hello Friends and supporters of Ngong Road,

Students graduate

In the second quarter of the year, the focus was on Class 8 and Form 4 (grades 8 and 12) since they did their final National exams in April 2021 and received their results. Given the Covid-19 impact on education in 2020, our students performed fairly well. For Form 4 students, 5 qualified to join University, 9 in college for a Diploma, and 11 in technical institutes for Certificate courses. For Class 8 students, eleven students scored above 300 marks while six scored below 300 out of 500. We held graduation ceremonies for these students in May. The purpose of the ceremony is to celebrate the milestone achieved as well as orient the students for the next education Journey (secondary for class 8 graduates and Post-secondary for Form 4 graduates). The students were invited together with their parents and during the ceremony, they were required to sign commitment forms for the next level of education. The class 8 graduates will be joining the secondary school in August while Form 4 graduates will join colleges and Universities in September 2021.

Move to a new office

The months of May and June were equally busy with the office move. This was necessitated by the fact the former location was a residential estate and the members were concerned about the organization’s traffic of people given the COVID-19 situation. We had to look for commercial space and our compound. We were lucky to get a spacious bungalow next to our Saturday program field where we signed a 5-year lease agreement and moved in at the beginning of June. The staff and students are excited about the new campus because of its outdoor space and welcoming ambiance. Our students have more outdoor space for training and workshops. Our staff has a conducive working space in the main house. 

Planning for Elimu Hub

We are planning to construct a student resource center at the new campus in the 3rd quarter of the year. We are naming the student resource center “Elimu Hub” which means Education Hub. You can read more about this on the website under “Elimu Hub”. 

COVID-19 effects on NRCF

Since April 2020, NRCF has monitored and assessed the effects of Covid-19 on our students and their families. Case managers reach out and interview NRCF households to monitor their situations. Here are some findings from the most recent survey completed in May 2021.

  • 95% of the households have someone working compared to 81% in October 2020 and 70% of families in August 2020
  • The income of 58% of those households has decreased due to the COVID-19 impact
  • 88% have an average home situation rating which means they have partially recovered from 2020 COVID-19 impacts
  • 77% have average support which means they have a supportive family which is important for their educational  success

Family Assessment Charts

Elimu Hub Design

Thanks to you, Elimu Hub is becoming a reality!

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Elimu Hub

Elimu Hub Designed with the Present and Future In Mind

Student- and Alumni-Centered
The design of Elimu Hub followed architecture’s golden rule: Form follows function. First and foremost, this was to be a student- and alumni-centered place. 

There are many reasons students come to the NRCF offices. They gather en masse to help carry supplies across Ngong Road for the Saturday Program. They sometimes visit with their case manager. A library was established early on because there was little alternative available. Students realized their friends were there so they’d gather around the offices. And then the Computer Lab was established, and students started taking regular classes on site. Over time, a melding of students and staff interchangeably occupied NRCF offices. 

The priority for a new location was near the slum where our students live but large enough to accommodate the increasing number of children served. The location selected had a large yard which allowed space to construct a separate building, apart from the administrative offices, for student use. 

A space dedicated for student use sends a message to the students that they matter. It is a place where they are provided with educational and technical resources that offers them a chance to learn and grow. It is a place where they are welcomed and can be with their fellow students.

Technology-Forward
Post-secondary education and the well paying jobs that follow will go to high school  graduates who are the most technology prepared and educated. All NRCF students are computer trained and certified in Microsoft Office skills. NRCF continues to expose students to technology with its Computer Lab, STEM Club, and laptop loaner program. 

Elimu Hub is designed to be technology forward. It includes solar power to help offer a more reliable power source, addressing constant interruptions from rolling brownouts and blackouts. The wi-fi will be faster, improving faster processing and connectivity. 

The laptop computer loaner system will become more systemized and efficient, providing greater access to more laptops for more students to use each day. A space for their use is built into the plans. 

Beyond today’s functionality, Elimu Hub will be operated by a NRCF team who welcome changing and emerging technologies. Those team members were instrumental in the design process and will continue to ensure that the resources and technical education being delivered to students will best prepare them for post-secondary education and the jobs that follow. 

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Changes to sponsorship support

Sponsorships are a key component of what makes Friends of Ngong Road unique. Sponsors have a very personal 1:1 relationship with their students and see the impact of their investment in changing a child’s life.

Sponsorship fees cover the cost of school fees, books, uniforms, meals, and school housing (if needed). Additional funds are raised to support student training and support costs. The cost of sponsorship has not changed in 15 years and was initially developed based on three tiers:  $750/year ($62.50/month) for primary school, $1250 ($104.17/month) for secondary school, and $1,000 ($83.33/month) for post-secondary school.

NRCF primary students

Over the years a few things have impacted the program:

  • School fees have increased significantly
  • The cost difference between grade levels has become negligible 
  • Currently, the full cost of a student in our program is:
    • $2402/year for primary
    • $2415/year for secondary
    • $2210/year for post-secondary
  • The management of differing sponsorship fee levels adds time and cost

In 2021 we decided to rationalize sponsorship fees to one level for the entire length of a student’s school career. We will now be asking sponsors to support students at $100/month ($1200/year). You will be notified on your sponsorship anniversary. There will continue to be the need to raise money for additional support for students such as our Life Skills Program, Saturday Program, medical assistance, case managers, etc.

If you are a sponsor, we hope you will consider paying at the new level and making your payments automatic on a monthly or annual basis. This helps keep our administrative costs low.

In addition, if you wish to contribute towards the additional program costs, consider a monthly donation or one-time gift by clicking here.