Ultimate frisbee is a non-contact, self-referred team sport played with a flying disc (or Frisbee). Each team defends one endzone. They score a goal if one of their players catches the disc in the opposite end zone. The player with the disc is called the thrower. The thrower may not run with the disc.  Instead, they move the disc by passing to team-mates in any direction. The defensive team gets possession of the disc if an offensive team’s throw is not caught by a player of the same team. Then the defensive team becomes the offensive team and can try to score in the opposite end zone.

Ultimate relies upon a Spirit of the Game that places the responsibility for fair play on every player. There are no referees; the players are solely responsible for following and enforcing the rules, even at the World Championship. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

On Saturday 8th February, Our students got a rare opportunity to learn ultimate frisbee through a partnership with Nairobi Ultimate club and Kisumu Ultimate club. We hosted the ultimate experience at the Dagoretti City Council Grounds where children learned about the history of the game, the spirit of the game and how to play (rules and tactics). In attendance were local clubs such as Blackfish Ultimate, Cool Waters, Dahz Ultimate and Fast Touch Ultimate.

This event was made possible by a generous donation of 50 discs from Disc-craft in the US. The whole initiative was driven by Steve Kotvis, one of our sponsors whose interest is in sports photography.

Since then, the game has been introduced to our kids during Saturday program

Badi joined the program in 2007 and is sponsored by Keith and Kathleen Kale. Since a young age, Eric has been a focused, dedicated student who has wanted to make his family proud. However, getting to where he is today hasn’t been easy.

Badi was raised by his mother. Badi’s mother was not able to provide many material goods for her family, but she instilled a powerful appreciation of education in her children. Badi knew from a young age that his involvement in the Ngong Road Children’s Foundation, through which he gained access to education, was his vehicle to a transformed life for himself and his family too.

He attended G.S.U. Primary School, one of our past focus primary schools, St. Joseph’s High School, and just a few months ago graduated from Kenyatta University.

Throughout his post-secondary career, Eric was a standout employee at Digital Divide Data, a company Friends of Ngong Road has partnered within Nairobi to provide supplemental income and employment experience to some of our students. Eric’s role at Digital Divide Data was to transcribe handwritten articles to an electronic format for clients such as museums and libraries. In return, Digital Divide Data helped pay for some of Eric’s university tuition.

Upon graduation, Eric was promoted again at Digital Divide Data and is now a full-time Project Manager, managing a team of people and interacting with clients. He is looking for a new apartment out of the slums. He has made it into the Kenyan middle class.

Margaret was raised in Nairobi with nine of her extended family members. In 2017, Margaret finished a program in Community Development. Ngong Road Children Foundation employed her as an intern for six months, after which she got an entry-level job with the law firm Odero Osiemo Advocates. Margaret explained to me that she wanted to become a lawyer, but her grades were not high enough to be admitted to a law school program. She began at the firm as an office administrator and was soon promoted to be an assistant to one of the lawyers. The firm has now offered Margaret the opportunity to attend a six-month professional training program in 2020 to become a mediator. They will pay her fees and continue to employ her as she goes through this program. Margaret has built a new, better life for herself. Margaret was sponsored by Anne McCulloch.

Jackline was in our first high school graduating class in 2012 and was one of the very first students in our program. After completing high school, she took a one-year program in front-office skills. Upon completing that program, Jackline became the enthusiastic and always cheerful NRCA/Karibu Loo receptionist. In 2014, her pleasant and outgoing personality got her hired by Bimeda, an Animal Health Company, as a Customer Care Representative. Having been very happy and successful in that role, Jackline is now pursuing additional education, courtesy of Bimeda, and hopes to move into a sales position in the future. She lives with her mother, one sister, and a niece and has moved her family out of the slums into an apartment with running water and electricity, luxuries never before enjoyed by the family. Jackline was proudly sponsored by Keith and Kathleen Kale.

Elizabeth was orphaned at a young age and raised by her aunt and uncle. Her aunt was an elementary school teacher at the school where Elizabeth attended. Elizabeth was always near the top of her class, and she graduated from high school in 2015. Since then, she has been enrolled at Nairobi University, studying law. She is on track to graduate in 2020 and hopes to land an internship at a law firm in Kenya. Elizabeth and her aunt attended the 2019 Annual General Meeting for Ngong Road Children Foundation in Kenya where we saw each other, and she explained that she is really looking forward to getting a job. Needless to say, her aunt is very proud of Elizabeth.