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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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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An Incredible Trip

My first trip to Nairobi was an exceptional experience in community and capacity building. For two weeks, I delved into staff tasks, engaged with students, and met board members to comprehend their roles.

My biggest takeaway is the sense of community that welcomes the students and their families when they join the NRCF (Ngong Road Children’s Foundation) community. They are embraced with joy and high expectations.

The new Elimu Hub student center is busy! Lucy Iguri (in blue) and Victor Wambua have made creative and professional contributions to the library collection, including tagging the books per a system emulated from another library, and developing a Google Form for book tracking and checkout. Lucy developed guidelines to address how to curate and manage the collection.

Students eagerly surround books on Lucy’s desk, urging her to catalog for a prompt reading adventure as pictured. Excitement fills the air!

Between one-to-one meetings, Saturday programs, lunches, and weekend activities, I was able to get to know the individual NRCF and KLL (Karibu Loo) staff members and have the privilege of hearing their stories. The most impressionable stories were those with the staff who are also program alumni. 

Here are two NRCF alumni entrepreneurs: Patrick and Leonard! 

Delivering loos with John and Martin, both NRCF beneficiaries.

Meeting former board member Edna with Callen and family. Visiting Kelvin’s son Taj.

At Saturday Program, the intertwined network includes Case Managers, students, and allies like the Saturday Program cook and nurse, revealing deep interdependence. The children radiate delight at having games, activities, and books that they would not otherwise be able to access. The students in the red shirts are the choir.

Shanice is a newly sponsored student. She took a book home from Saturday program. When she came with her mother to pick up her uniform, Alice said she read it to her sister all evening. Here she is coming back for more! Future librarian?!

I became solidly convinced of why I felt compelled to join this organization through my immersion in the NRCF community.

We ensure college access for economically disadvantaged kids, granting them equal opportunities and changing their belief in educational attainment. Their beaming faces project a sense of security in a circle of supportive peers, mentors, and caregivers among whom they grow up.

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Life as a Student – Lunch & Learn – Part 2

Join the Zoom

Scroll to the bottom to RSVP.

Join Us Wednesday, Oct 12 11:30am (Central)

We heard your positive feedback about our educational event last month and want to continue to offer sponsors and donors the opportunity to enhance their experience and bond with their students by learning more about their day-to-day lives. This educational event will continue our series on “Life as a Student” in our program. 

This Lunch and Learn will focus on what it’s like to be a student in Kenya. You will learn in more detail about the primary and secondary schools with whom we work, what attending school in the slums is like, and how schools compare with those in the U.S. We will also share how post-secondary education is conducted in Kenya and how vastly different the experience is than college in the States. 

Life for our students living in the slum

Last month we hosted our first educational event which went into detail about living in the slum of Dagoretti. We learned where our students live geographically and heard firsthand stories from sponsors who have visited Dagoretti about what the slum is like. For those of you who missed the last event, click here to watch the recording.

We know sponsors and donors enjoy learning more about how our students live and how their support is making a life-changing difference to our students!   

RSVP now or come back and click the button on our Events page at the start of the event.

See you then!

Naomi Miezwa
Donor Relations Associate

RSVP Now

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Personal connections, a world away.

Friends of Ngong Road has been working with Kenyan students for 14 years, helping sponsors and supporters build personal connections with Kenyans. The organization is committed to helping sponsors and donors establish relationships with the students in their program. In our world today, now challenged by COVID-19, we may be a world away but personal connections are still indispensable! 

Kenya has 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with international flights prohibited after midnight on March 25. The president and his deputy have taken 80% pay cuts, while high-ranking officials have taken 50% cuts. The government has waived income tax for those earning less than 24,000 KSH per month and reduced it for higher wage earners.

Our normal process is to distribute 15 food packets monthly to families in the greatest need. From March 23rd to 27th alone we distributed 50. We will try to increase this food distribution as we get more information about where the greatest need lies. A food packet is pretty basic: 1 kg of beans, 2 kg of rice, 500 g of cooking fat, and 4 kg of maize flour. A family of four can enjoy Kenya’s ugali daily with collard greens or kale for a week.

The Kenyan offices are operating with a skeleton staff and handling meetings by appointment only. The computer lab and library are closed. We may allow some students to use it by appointment in the coming days and weeks. Caseworkers conduct weekly calls to support families, collecting data on job availability, those who travelled to rural areas, and support needs. This helps identify those in need of assistance and ensures a better understanding of their situation.

Thank you for the personal connections you have made with our friends in Kenya. We’re all in this together!

Paula Meyer
President and Founder