Students vs Sponsors; The Dilemma

    I have always loved the work that Ndoto does in Kenya. I love working for Ndoto and getting to interact with the students and staff, a special group of people. I consider myself lucky to work for such a great organization that gives students who have almost lost hope in life a chance to dream again and fulfill their dreams. What blesses my soul the most is getting to recruit new students into our sponsorship program.  They come in when they are so discouraged and almost giving up hope, then we accept them in and slowly I get to watch them be transformed into who God wants them to be. I love it when we admit students who have no idea what it means to even attend a church service or youth bible study. When they join our program, they find out that one of the requirements is to be actively involved in church activities. What a blessing it always is to see them worship and praise the lord with all their being during our Sunday Church services at prince of peace church where all the Ndoto students come to worship the lord! I love that as an organization we are very unique in that we not only give the students an education that is fundamental in helping them achieve their dream careers but we also lead them into knowing Christ Jesus.

Ndoto students participating in a past church service

     I am honored to have been a Ndoto student, and now a Ndoto staff. That helps me appreciate the program more. Back in the days when I joined, I was a sophomore and there were only a bunch of students in our church and this made it easier for Allison to select the students joining the then informal sponsorship program. During those days, there were no annual applications, no interviews; no restrictions on the siblings sponsored per family and one needed not be bright to be sponsored for sponsorship was purely based on financial need.

Michael; ndoto student who recently graduated to be a pastor, with his brother Tobias, also a ndoto student. They too did not go through the interview process to join the program.

    Yesterday as I compiled the names of the shortlisted students for this year, I was reminded of just how lucky I am to have joined the program when I did. Competition has become so stiff that not just anyone can get in anymore. BRIGHT and NEEDY are the bywords of the day.

   Over the past two weeks, Ndoto staff here in Kenya has been as busy as worker bees going through the 2012 applications.  Over 370 students applied for the 50 spots this year. This has made the selection of students for the interviews very difficult in deed. Coming up with 50 students from the 370 has been such an arduous task. Traditionally, we would shortlist 60 students and end up taking 50 or 55 after the interviews.

   The reason we take 50 students annually is due to the fact that it is so difficult recruiting sponsors. We rely entirely on the good will of the sponsors to run this program. Our sponsors play a critical role in giving disadvantaged kids in Obunga the basics and the confidence they so much need to realize their dreams. The monetary contributions made by the sponsors not only help the students afford quality education but also go a long way in  providing love and attention to the poor children in Obunga. Recruiting sponsors has been the sole responsibility of Ndoto’s executive director, Allison Schlack who works tirelessly to ensure that each of the 50 students that we admit annually have sponsors by the start of the school year. Although we do roll out the sponsorship application forms in June each year, the vetting process and the interviews take a long time and by the time we come up with the successful applicants it is always late in the year with only 3 months before the start of school year. The good news is that God has always provided for us and we have no iota of doubt He can do it again. Our slogan has always been to pray! pray! Pray! until every student has a sponsor. Previously, some students who are not  lucky to have sponsors by the start of school year in January have had to either delay reporting to school until they have one or have their guardians struggle to pay the first term fees on their own until the start of second term by which time all the students usually do have sponsors.
        Taking students above the “normal” limit of 50 usually means extra work for Allison and other Ndoto volunteers helping recruit sponsors and lots of prayers from the entire Ndoto fraternity. We always don’t know what to expect, we just take students and go out there believing that God will provide a sponsor for every student we have taken in. Sometimes the difficult process of recruiting sponsors is aggravated by the fact that some sponsors drop out due to financial commitments and we have to look for alternative sponsors because at the end of the day our priority is to keep our students in school.
        With the overwhelming applications received this year, we ended up short listing a massive 152 students last week! Each of them had good marks, well articulated dreams and demonstrated financial need. So after days of rigorous vetting, we had 152 students and we were ready for the interviews. Then it dawned on us that we only have 50 spots. Yes, 50 spots for 152 students all with dire need. Knowing explicitly well how difficult the process of recruiting sponsors is, we were forced to go back to the drawing board and embark on another vetting process, this time to eliminate 50 students so that we could interview 102. How painful it was getting rid of 50 precious people! We raised the standards, and went for the crème de la crème of the group; taking the brightest from the group and assessing their financial need. I must admit that all the 370 plus students were very special. Thus to come from 370 to 152, and then reduce the 152 to 102 was painful indeed. How I wish we could find sponsors for all of them!! Right after we had shortlisted the final 102 students who are coming for the interviews tomorrow,  Thursday, 30^th August, we posted the list and scores of prospective students and their parents scrambled to find out if they made it at least for the interviews. I loved seeing their eyes light up when they realized they had made it for the interviews. It was a real reminder of how fortunate they were to have made it amid stiff competition and the stringent vetting criteria ever in the Ndoto history.

Lawi, a student whose life has changed dramatically since joining the program last year. He now goes to Akili prep school, a school started in Obunga by one of our graduate student teachers, Erick Oduor.

        Not everyone was happy though, there was anger and frustrations written on the faces of those who did not make it and we encouraged them to keep working hard and apply next year. The Ndoto premise in Obunga has become a favorite hanging out place for most of the youth in Obunga. Some come to study at Akili library while others just come to hang out. It has been so sad walking around and meeting familiar faces in the library and in the compound; faces of students who applied and didn’t make it, not that they are not bright, but because of the limited spots we have for the year. Every time we meet them, they look at us with expectation as if their future is in our hands. Sometimes, you look at them and it dawns on you that they are indeed very needy and should have made it for the interviews were it not for the limited spots. Those are the times that I wish everyone in the world could sponsor a kid and make a difference in the world. Unfortunately that can’t happen and we must keep praying that God will minister to people in a special way and change their hearts towards giving to help the less fortunate in our society.

some of the ndoto students having fun at the ndoto office in Obunga.

As we start the interview process tomorrow, let us pray that God will give us the wisdom to know those he has chosen to join the program. Let us also pray that more people will sign up to sponsor our students and that God will provide the sponsors by the end of the year so that our students are not forced to report to school late due to lack of school fees. I would also like to take this chance to express my utmost gratitude to all those people who are sponsoring students with Ndoto. Your prayers and financial support help greatly in transforming the lives of God's children struggling to cope with deplorable living conditions in Kenya. May God bless you so much as you sacrifice part of your income to make a difference in the lives of the kids in Obunga. God is not unjust and he will reward you for your good work.
        And to those people who are not sponsoring a student and would like to, I would like to kindly appeal to you to start sponsoring a kid with us and make a difference. We are interviewing 102 students starting tomorrow, Thursday. All the 102 students are very needy. Unfortunately, we are only going to take 50 students because this is the number that Allison and other Ndoto volunteers can comfortably raise sponsors for. If more people are moved to sponsor these precious students, we could end up taking 80 or more. We all wish we could take all of them. Interviewing a needy student and not being able to find a sponsor for them is very sad and the interview process is always tough for the Ndoto staff because all these students who have made it to interview are special and we wish we could help all of them. But the ugly truth is that we depend on peoples generosity and we can only take a limited number that we can comfortably raise sponsors for. Since Allison now runs the program from Kenya, it is very difficult raising funds since she has to travel to the USA to recruit sponsors for a limited period of time and them fly back to Kenya to train the staff and serve the students.

    If you have a heart to help the poorest and most vulnerable in the world, then we invite you to learn more about our work and join us as we offer life, opportunity and hope to the children in need in Kenya. When you sponsor a child, you can transform a life, please act now to make a difference in the world. With $35 dollar a month, you can put a student through school in Kenya! As a sponsor, you will help provide a child with sustainable access to appropriate life-changing basics like nutritious food and clean water for the Boy’s and Girl’s dorms, healthcare, and education for the over 100 students that we support. Ndoto will also give you the opportunity to personally connect with your sponsored child thus building a relationship that could change both your lives.

Ashley Reed, one of our sponsors with Ridah, the student she sponsors. Ashley is volunteering with Ndoto in Kenya, mentoring our young girls

If you want to get involved, kindly visit our website at www.ndoto.org . May God bless you all as you continue praying for and supporting Ndoto. Pray! Pray! Pray!

"If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord-and He will repay you." Proverbs 19:17

The Year Of The Lord's Favor

On Saturday 11^th August, 2012, a memorable event took place in Obunga as Michael Omondi graduated with a Higher Diploma in Theology from Kenya Highlands Evangelical University. His life found new meaning as he graduated in the company of friends and family.  It began in 2008, when Colleen Hildebrandt, a young lady from the state of Texas met this young man from Obunga slums in Kisumu Kenya, and decided to sponsor him through prince of peace church and later through Ndoto for Africa’s Future so that he could realize his dream. 

Michael and Family

 Coming from a humble background, Michael had a dream of becoming a pastor one day and preaching the gospel of Christ Jesus not only in Obunga but to the whole world. I remember him as a Sunday school teacher at Prince of Peace Community ministries in Obunga. He used to stay with a former pastor who would always call him his son.  Occasionally, the pastor would give him a chance to preach on Sundays. On one such Sunday, I remember him preaching and sharing his dream with the congregation. I remember hearing him say amid laughter that he wanted to preach the gospel in Texas USA. Many people did not believe he would one day be a pastor. Despite being a great vocation, not many people want to be pastors here. If a young man or woman told his or her parents that they wanted to be pastors he or she would be ridiculed and “guided” on good careers that they should pursue if they wanted to make more money and lead better lives. Often such careers are law, medicine, Accountancy, and mostly science based courses. It is argued that parents who wanted to be doctors, lawyers or in “great” professions and failed always tend to force it on their kids to make up for the missed opportunity. No wonder there are so many students who want to be in those professions. 

Michael and Allison

 It was not surprising therefore that Michael met a lot of mixed reactions from his family and friends when he declared his interest of going to school to study to be a pastor. So many people discouraged him. Some said he was just another lazy boy who did not want to work hard in life. And this is because pastors are generally believed to be a lazy lot. Others thought that he was crazy to choose to study to be a pastor when he had great sponsorship opportunity to pursue a “good” course in college. Very few people encouraged him and it must have been hard for him figuring out whether he should yield to what people consider best for him or respond to God’s call for his life which was to serve Him as a pastor.

Bernard, Michael and his dad, Isaac

I praise God for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Carrollton, Texas. As the director of missions, Allison Schlack would organize for mission trips to Kenya every year. Different people would sign up to come to minister in Obunga by helping at the prince of peace Kisumu, visiting hospitals and prisons to pray for the sick and the inmates and volunteer at children’s homes thus connecting God’s children around the globe to live as a family. 

Michael and Team Ndoto

 And it began from there – many of those coming for the trips would never go back the same again. Usually they would be moved to tears by the plight of the youth in Obunga and would be compelled to come back again and help. One such person was Colleen Hildebrandt who having met Michael decided to sponsor him. She continued to pay for his school fees and other basic needs through prince of peace church. After Ndoto was officially registered, she continued to sponsor him and developed a good relationship with him. As I watched Michael graduate, I was in awe of God’s immense love for the people of Obunga. The Lord in His goodness and perfect timing had put Michael in Obunga just when the church was in dire need of a pastor and direction. He has been a great blessing to the church, ministering to the people and watching God save souls and change lives in this neglected community.

Church service in progress

 Just a few months ago, I watched Michael struggle as he was torn between going to the north to serve in Turkana and coming back to serve in Obunga where he has been raised. Everyone was happy when he finally decided to come and pastor the church in Obunga. As his name was called with those of other graduands, I was reminded of the Apostle Paul speaking to the preachers from the church at Ephesus when he told them in Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”  I likened this to the 6 months that Michael has been serving the church as a pastor. He has done what Paul had admonished those preachers to do. He has been faithful in his devotion to the Lord and his calling in regard to the ministry of the church in Obunga, in pastoring and caring for God’s people. The evidences of his faithfulness are seen in the blessings that we have experienced over these 6 months. 

the new church instruments

 Just a few days before his graduation, the church received music instruments for the praise and worship team. This came in the form of donation from James Lavender of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Carollton, TX. For many months we have been praying that God would provide these instruments that we so much needed to worship him. That the donation came in just around Michael’s graduation was a blessing in deed. To see him preach on Sunday, as a graduate pastor and to hear the wonderful voices of the praise and worship team, and to see the church filled to capacity  was a spectacle that will be forever etched in my memory.

May the Lord continue to bless his ministry here as long as He tarries in His coming.

Ndoto sponsorship program; Every student's dream

June 30^th 2012 was a special day at Ndoto.  First, because it was my birthday. And second because it marked the deadline of issuing Ndoto sponsorship Application forms for 2012. I choose to talk about the latter.  Unlike last year when about 55 students collected the forms on the first day, this time the first two days saw over 250 students collect the sponsorship application forms! That is 3 times more than the spots we have for this year since we are in the habit of taking only 50 students yearly. As students and their parents streamed at the Ndoto office in Obunga, we kept wondering how many applicants we would get this year. Every case looked deserving and the thought of turning some students down always makes me sad. The ugly truth however is that we depend on people’s generosity to do our work and therefore we can only take a limited number of people at a time. By the time we closed the applications on 30^th June, a massive 389 students had applied for the 50 spots. Yes, 389 students for 50 spots!! The implications of that is a rigid vetting process that will see us select those who are to join Ndoto. That is tough! The good news though is that at Ndoto we endeavor to act justly and show mercy always and every case is treated as special. 

Some of the submitted forms from the 2012 applicants

As has been the case in the past, majority of the students who applied this year mainly come from Obunga slums in Kisumu, Kenya. For those who don’t know it, Obunga is a slum in Kisumu and is mainly characterized by deplorable living conditions and abject poverty. The inadequacy of physical infrastructure and basic social services in this area is comparatively worse than in other slum areas and roads are generally impassable due to poor drainage and inadequate spacing of houses and other buildings. This is an area of drug addicts and unemployed people, young and old alike. Common economic activities here include selling vegetables, charcoal, second hand clothes, fish and running of small food kiosks in order to make ends meet. Women and young people brew illicit brews which are illegal and punishable by the courts to provide for their families and pay school fees for their kids.  Housing remains a big problem in the Obunga slums as majority of residents live in tiny/ single room iron sheet houses locally known as MABATINI, with house occupancy of four to eight people per house. In general, majority live in a vicious circle of poverty as they cannot invest and even support the education of their children. Through support from Ndoto, students from poor families have been able to go to school and achieve their dreams. Students sponsored by Ndoto are seldom sent home for school fees. As a result, Ndoto is a place that everyone wants to be, almost all the students in the community want to join this program so that they too can enjoy being in school and be assured of a brighter future through education. Since its inception, Ndoto has been exceptional in its work in Obunga and has won the respect of many in the community. Not many organizations have had the greatest impact in the community like Ndoto has in the past few years by faithfully sponsoring students at all levels and enabling them to acquire quality and affordable education and life skills that they need in order to afford them a quality life and emancipate themselves from the vicious circle of poverty, diseases, ignorance, dependency and war within the families. It is not surprising therefore that a total of 389 students applied for the sponsorship program despite knowing that we only take a limited number of 50 every year.  

more 2012 applicants

Over 60 students have already turned in their forms, all immaculately filled in, with all the necessary reference letters and documents appended. The submission deadline is scheduled for July 31^st, 2012. As I was going through the forms that have been turned in today, it crossed my mind   just how hard it’s going to be selecting 50 students out of 389 applicants. Every single completed form from a student applying for the sponsorship represents a story every bit as compelling and complicated as the other. These are no ordinary people. They have BIG dreams!! Some want to be doctors, architects, Journalists, pilots, engineers,  some lawyers, teachers, pastors, priests, nurses, others accountants, businessmen, politicians, drivers, and so much more!  They come from different levels of education too. Some are in nursery school, others first to eighth grade, others in high school and some in colleges and universities.  All these applicants are praying that if selected to join the program, Ndoto will help them be what they dream to be. If we give them a chance, each of them has something amazing to offer. 

It is impractical to help everyone in this community. However, for any student who cares to dream, Ndoto which in itself means to dream endeavors to support these students and help them to realize their dreams. Some of these students have gone through a lot of struggles and problems in life that have discouraged them and even made them think they will never be what they want to be. At Ndoto we don’t want these students to be pushed by their problems but we want them to be led by their dreams and ultimately live the life each one of them wants to live.

We have 114 students now. If we take 50 students which I highly doubt because we could end up taking 55 or even 60 given the high number of applicants, then Ndoto will have a total of at least 160 students by the start of school in January 2013!  That has HUGE implications in terms of recruiting sponsors and raising funds to support the program activities including hiring and training able staff that will take care of these precious people. 

It is hardly three months since Allison Schlack; Ndoto’s Executive Director came up from the USA with the good news that all the 55 students admitted into the program last year had all gotten sponsors. We were all ineffably elated and grateful to God for his faithfulness and provision. We celebrated with our trade mark group hug oblivious of the fact that 3 months later it would be time for her to hit the road again recruiting sponsors for yet another group of new students. With 160 students expected in the program by December, I am already wondering where our next Christmas retreat would be. We have literally outgrown all the facilities we have used previously. Not long ago, we used three 14-seater matatus to ferry students to a retreat centre at St. Rita Buoye, then it was this April it was a 60-seater bus making two trips to Ahero for this years’ April Retreat. And now with 50 to 60 more students, it could be 2 60-seater buses!! Looking back, I remember the days when Allison Schlack had only 29 students in the program. She knew each student by name, where they went to school, their parents and siblings and every nitty-gritty about them. And she would queue in the bank halls to personally pay their school fees and accompany them to buy supplies. Before she could blink, there were 79 students in the program, then 112, and soon 160!!! With a student population of 160, and a staff of about 7 in Kenya alone, Ndoto has grown so fast and so has the need to serve these students well and provide for their needs. We cannot control them, but we want to influence them for God and towards God and not just give an education. Because at the end of this life their education wouldn’t matter, whether they knew God and served Him will. 

Ndoto students at the April 2012 retreat

God has been faithful over the years and has provided all we need to run this program. He has constantly reminded us that He is sufficient for all our needs, even when as human beings we doubt.  When we selected 55 students to join the program last year, I didn’t know everyone would have a sponsor by April. God provided and we are all grateful for His provision. He is aware of our needs and our wants and  it is good to know that His plan is for us to learn how to lean on His sufficiency even in difficult times. 

As we begin the process of selecting the students for the 2013 academic year, pray that God will continue to provide like He has always done. The school year for the new students start in January 2013. Our goal has always been that every single student has a sponsor by then. But like I said before, a lot of what we do depends on people’s generosity and that means we have to pray pray pray and fully rely on God to provide. The good news is He has never failed us. And that really blesses my soul.

Ndoto students writing letters to their sponsors

To those interested in signing up to sponsor a student and make a difference you can check the sponsorship levels from our website www.ndoto.org. With as little as $35 a month you can get a kid through school in Kenya and make a difference in the life of a kid from Obunga. Someone once said that if you can’t save a village, change the life of one person within that village.  If you can’t change a person’s life, bring a better moment to his life.  Helping others on any scale is a wonderful gift to the world, but more importantly it is a wonderful gift to yourself.  Do something that’s greater than you – something that helps someone else to be happy or to suffer less.

To those already sponsoring students with Ndoto, smile and enjoy the fact that you are making a difference – one you’ll likely remember forever.

And to everyone, PRAY!! PRAY!! PRAY!!!!!!

 “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”  Albert Pike

Dream Until Your Dream Comes True

Mwalimu (Erick) and Allison

About 4 years ago Erick Otieno Oduor had a dream of becoming a primary school teacher. He came from a very humble background and was a very poor boy compared to most of the other students. He was a bright student at primary level and pursued his education and passed well at Nyamwanga Primary school. However, his chance to join high school was jeopardized because he lacked the school fees and money to buy school supplies. His parent’s meager income could not suffice. By God’s grace, well wishers devoted to pay his school fees with his parents stepping in whenever they could. He successfully went to school at Butula Boys High school before he was forced to transfer to Bumala Mixed Secondary School where he finally sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.  When he sat for his K.C.S.E he passed and got a C+, a grade that would enable him to go to college and pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. 

Erick in a past photo

  Life then became difficult after high school. Once again he could not pay his way through college. He stayed at home with his parents for sometime before the innate desire to help his parents and alleviate their suffering overcame him necessitating him to travel to Kisumu where he worked as an untrained teacher in a local primary school. They paid him very little money and he was torn between saving his income to enable him to later go to school and providing for his basic needs. He gave up his teaching job when he got employed by the prince of peace ministries Kisumu as a water vendor.  He sold water for the Obunga residents to make ends meet and literally, he became the type of young men whom everyone has looked down upon. Fortunately, it is while working at the water kiosk that Erick met Allison Schlack, who committed to sponsoring him through college. That will forever be a defining moment in his life, because since then, life has never been the same.  

Erick, Ashley, and Michael in a past photo

 I’m so happy because I can only tell his story now because last week I watched his dream come true as he graduated with a P1 certificate at Bungoma Teachers Training College. It was pomp and glory as friends and relatives went to witness the graduation ceremony. 

Erick & his mom, Alice

  The school was abuzz with preparations for the day as graduates moved up and down in readiness for this memorable occasion when we arrived. Despite the ceremony commencing several hours late, everything went on well and Allison; the young lady from the United States of America, as the master of ceremony referred to her not only got the chance to witness Erick graduate but she also got the opportunity to address the convocation.  

Allison addressing the gathering

  I was so happy to see Erick realize his dream of becoming a teacher. I have seen him elevated: that poor guy working at the water kiosk, the boy who could hardly fend for himself, and the one who could hardly even think of ever going to college. It has been our joy at Ndoto to see him dream to become a teacher, go to college, finish college and start a school in Obunga, get a job with Ndoto and grow into the man God wanted him to be. There is no greater joy than this and this is the most interesting part about Ndoto; seeing students join the program when they are very needy and about to give up, and then change for the better, gain confidence, work hard and proceed to realize their dreams once absorbed in the program.

In today’s world, where determination is rare, Erick has demonstrated that with determination and trust in God, one can dream and be what they want to be.  

Erick & Family

  Most people give up when things get tough or difficult. Despite the struggles he faced, Erick exhibited a tenacity that refuses to give up or give in because he knew he was on the right track doing the right thing and that God had great plans for his life just as He promises in Jeremiah 29:11.  One of the greatest lessons I learnt as I watched Erick graduate is that your success can never be determined by your situation. I have even realized that it is easier to achieve success when you’re uncomfortable than when you’re comfortable because comfort makes it difficult for you to think, it makes you think of pleasure alone while making you forget about work. This may not be true, but it will do for now, and for my good friend Erick.

Michael, mwalimu and David

Other than hard work, determination and trust in God, I would attribute much of Erick’s success to the sponsorship Ndoto For Africa’s Future accorded him. For Erick and most of the students in Obunga who have been lucky to join the program, life has never been the same. Since the advent of Ndoto, gone are the days when college was only for the rich and privileged in the slums of Obunga and its environs. With so many colleges to choose from and with financial aid and sponsorship available, nearly anyone with the desire, preparation and fortitude can earn a college degree and realize their dream careers!

CONGRATULATIONS MWALIMU ON YOUR GRADUATION!!