The Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for secondary school students who come from very poor subsistence farmer families in eastern Kenya. The Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund is now administered by a registered Canadian charity (the Rotary Club Sunshine Coast-Sechelt Society). There are no administration or marketing costs.
SCHOOLS & SCHOLARSHIP FUND UPDATE
Schools in Kenya have restarted after being closed in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. The good news is that so far, ther have been no Covid cases in the schools or Kyaithani community.
Kyaithani Secondary School has 161 returning students (89 boys and 72 girls) and Lower Yatta Secondary School has 256 girls.
Sadly, many of the returning students have come back with no funds from their parents to pay for their school fees. This has put the schools in the very precarious position of needing to pay their operating expenses and provide meals and boarding for all of the returning boarding school students, but having insufficient funds to do so.
The Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund, administered by the Canadian registered charity (Rotary Club Sunshine Coast-Sechelt SOCIETY), has just provided 69 Scholarships to students at Kyaithani and Lower Yatta Secondary Schools to help the parents of these students pay their school fees for the 2020 school year. Each of these scholarships is worth CAN$150 (which is equivalent to 12,000 Kenyan Shillings or approximately USD$120).
Secondary boarding school fees there cost 39,000 Kenyan Shillings per year (USD$390). Parents of scholarship recipients are still required to find ways to pay the remaining 27,000 Kenyan Shillings (USD$270) of school fees per student. With average family income of these subsistence farming parents of about USD$1 per day, it still takes 270 days of their family work/income (almost a whole year!) to pay the remaining school fees so that just one of their children can go to secondary school.
The total benefit to all of the parents from these 69 scholarships in 2020 is 828,700 Kenyan shillings (approximately USD$8300). So these scholarships represent about 8,300 days of family work/income that these 69 subsidence farmer families will not have to spend to pay for school fees this year in this very poor, drought-prone area of eastern Kenya!
The 69 scholarships were split almost equally between Kyaithani Mixed Secondary and Lower Yatta Girls Secondary Schools. Based on gender, 52 girls (35 from Lower Yatta and 17 from Kyaithani) and 17 boys received scholarships this year.
The Scholarship Fund only provides scholarships to students that originate from the six primary schools in the immediate Kyaithani area. The reason for this is that a focus of the Scholarship Fund is to try to raise the level of education, over time, in the Kyaithani area community. The one exception to this is that, as a memorial to Principal Ann Mwania (who founded Lower Yatta Secondary School), there are 3 Most Improved Achievement scholarships open to all girls attending Lower Yatta Secondary School.
For the 2020 scholarships, the students receiving scholarships came from:
19 from Kyaithani Primary
14 from Ndunguni Primary
12 from Muusini Primary
12 from Nthilani Primary
9 from Ndandini Primary
0 from Ilovi Primary (a new school with no students graduating yet)
3 from other Primary (Ann Mwania Achievment scholarship recipients)
Many parents in the Kyaithani area cannot afford the 39,000 Kenyan Shillings (about US$390) to send their children to secondary boarding school (or even the remaining US$270 if their child was eligible to receive a scholarship). In 2018 parents met with Kyaithani school administrators and the parents requested that Kyaithani Secondary School return to offering education for "day school" students rather than just for boarding school students. After appropriate review and inspection by the Kenyan school authority the school has been allowed to become a Public Mixed Day & Boarding Secondary School. Already 41 of the 161 students (25%) at Kyaithani Secondary are now attending as day-school students. The most significant advantage of this, for parents, is that the day-school fee is only 12,000 Kenyan Shillings (about US$120). This is still a major expense to these subsistence farmer parents, but much more potentially attainable than the US$390 required for their child to atend as a boarding-school student.
The principal of Kyaithani Secondary School is expecting that there will be a large increase in enrolment next year, mostly as day-school students. In fact, his projection is that the enrolment at Kyaithani Secondary will have grown to 500 students in 2024 (from 161 in 2020) because of the day-school fees being more affordable.
There are currently a total of 155 secondary school students,(who came from Cluster primary schools), enrolled at the two secondary schools. Kyaithani has 119 and Lower Yatta has 36. The Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to 42% of these students.
The Directors of our charity (all members of the Rotary Club Sunshine Coast-Sechelt) are looking at potential ways that our charity might be able to work towards increasing the number of scholarshipsprovided for students from Cluster primary schools who continue their education at Kyaithani or Lower Yatta Secondary Schools. This is an important consideration due to the anticipated large increase in day-school enrolment at Kyaithani Secondary,
There is so much more need and opportunity to help provide an education for the kids in the Kyaithani area of Kenya and to help their parents who struggle to send their children to school. There is so much potential benefit to the Kyaithani community by improving the education level of it's future citizens and leaders.
In the ten years since 2011, when the Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund started by providing only 9 scholarships, the Scholarship Fund has now provided a total of 419 scholarships to these two schools. That is the equivalent of a total of almost 50,000 days work/income for the parents since 2011 that they have not had to spend on school fees - because YOU helped them.
As our fundraising for scholarships for the next school year (2021) approaches the Christmas season, please think about how much good your support of the Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund does for the students and parents in Kenya. Please help us to help even more students in the coming year.
It costs only CAN$150 to fund a scholarship for one year (CAN$600 to fund all four years that a student attends secondry school in Kenya). Any size donation helps.
You can donate online by clicking the DONATE button on our Scholarship Fund website. You will get an immediate receipt that you can use on your Canadian tax return.
We would especially like to thank you, our regular donors, for your past and ongoing support. These donors include:
- the congregation of St. Hilda's Anglican Church in Sechelt BC
- the student members of Chatelech Secondary School Interact Club in Sechelt BC
- the members of the Rotary Club Sunshine Coast-Sechelt BC
- private individuals like you from BC, Canada and around the world
The students, parents and school administrators have asked me to ensure that you all know how much your support is appreciated. We too are so thankful for your generosity and interest in the work that the Kyaithani Cluster Scholarship Fund has done since 2011 and continues to do.
I recommend that you continue reading below a communication that I recently had with a father who asked "why can you not provide scholarships to attend college as well?"
Terry
COMMUNICATION WITH A KYAITHANI PARENT
The information below shares with you a communication with a parent within the Kyaithani community that resulted from my posting information (on the Kyaithani Secondary School FaceBook page) about the scholarships that our charitable Society just provided to 69 students in Kenya.
I found the questions and comments of this parent very interesting.
I am hoping that after you read this, you will have a much better understanding of how much these scholarships are appreciated and also be more aware of potential opportunities that exist to help students get post-secondary education and also see how difficult it is for them to secure employment.
When parent John expresses his appreciation for the secondary school scholarships provided, please remember that John is thanking everyone for your support of the Scholarship Fund that our CRA-approved charitable Society administers.
This parent, John Mutua, has several children that have benefitted from receiving scholarships since the scholarship program started in 2011.
Terry Umbach
Treasurer, Rotary Club Sunshine Coast-Sechelt Society
JOHN Responding to Terry
I thank you terry for the scholarship support of my child in the year of 2014 but my questions are;
1/ after the child has finished secondary level why can't you support college level?
2/ if the parent has supported college why can't you support the child to get a job somewhere so that he/she takes over to support the school as you do now because tomorrow you will not be able, and today you support them and tomorrow is theirs. If they are still struggling to look for job opportunities who will be supporters of tomorrow?
Terry responding to John
Thank you John for your thoughts, comments and questions. The answer is quite simple: it takes donations from many people to have been able to provide the 69 scholarships that we did this year. There simply are not enough people, that we have contact with, who are interested in giving money to support more Kenya secondary school students or students beyond the secondary level.
As for trying to help graduating students (either from secondary level or college) to get a job, that is next to impossible for us who live in Canada. We have provided help for 3 boys to learn a trade at Syongila Polytec (in Kitui). We asked Syongila why they do not provide help for their vocational school graduates to get a job. If a trade school can't help find work for their graduates, how much harder it is for people from outside Kenya.
I appreciate that it will be ideal and essential for the students of today to take over supporting their Kyaithani-area community and its schools. You are correct! Donors will not likely contribute money forever, and I will not live forever either.
We are hoping that enough students will have been trained, over the years, to take over from us sooner rather than later.
JOHN responding to Terry
I appreciate your answer and as for my fellow Kenyans, if people there outside Kenya have a heart to help our children, then when will we have a helping hand to others or set an example to our children to help others tomorrow and to help others there outside Kenya and not just sit and wait for help from outside!!
Let's not be selfish towards your bro'/sister because God gave u b'cos of who has nothing, why wait for outsiders to come for your brothers rescue while God blessed u to bless others? Its a pity, let's try and follow our brothers steps and we will make it then we will have a heart for outsiders like Terry!!!
Try and help your neighbours child and you will make your friend do the same.
Thanks Terry and your group. My prayer is my fellow Kenyans to have a heart like yours and we will put poverty aside!!!!
Terry responding to John
Thank you John for your comments. I am grateful that you have written. You are the first parent from within the Kyaithani area of Kenya that has written to me. I am very glad to read that one of your children received a scholarship.
Did your child go on to college as a result of your support? I hope so and that they did well.
Your comments about the difficulty of securing employment causes me concern that perhaps after all the years of education they have not found employment.
I am eager to hear more from you, and other parents, about your experience with bringing up children in your area and your & their experience living in the Kyaithani area and trying to help your children get an education and employment. Best Regards.
JOHN responding to Terry
Thanks again ,actually I don't know how to put the word so that u can understand how I thank you for supporting my two kids. I thank you very much may God bless you and your team. I will pray to God to make me be like you to support those who are down financially. You know what my first born finished the yr 2012 and he was the one brought kyaithani sec Award first 4m 4,the brown boy. By that tyme his dad was very sick and there was nobody to support him, and thru' hardship he was no.1 with B+. That's why I say thanks for your support. In the year 2014 my second born was in her final year. Her papa passed on 1/6/2014 while waiting exams. Thru hardships your support made her stay in school and as her brother also brought her school award she scored b plain, and they both went to universities. Her bro graduated in the yr 2016 his first degree and he is struggling with masters although he is jobless. Fees has became a challenge. Its overwhelming to a single parent. His sister graduated last yr November and also jobless. As we talk I have 3rd born university in 3rd yr also form 3 and another 2 in primary level. That's why I asked the question in my first comment. BuT I thank God to touch you to came to our country and give our kids scholarship, thanks and thanks a lot, and on behalf of my fellow parents, kyaithani sec school teachers, Board of Governors and pupils we thank you and your team for having a heart of helping our children’s. Thank you again terry may you live long!!!
