Students Recommended for Scholarships

The principal and administration of the Kyaithani Secondary School has presented us with the following list of students that they are recommending be provided with the first scholarships from our scholarship program.  It is very hard to read the reasons for these recommendations and know that there are many more students at the school that also have similar situations.

Kimali, the principal, advises that all these students are very disciplined and industrious and perform well in class.  He says "we are optimistic that the Scholarship Program will give the students the provisions, confidence and impetus to fully exploit their academic potential for personal and social development in the future.  Once again, thanks for making the scholarship program dream come true".

We hope that our program will make a real difference in the lives of these students and that our base of donors to the program will grow so that we will not only be able to provide funding to these students next year, but also provide scholarships for more needy students in this school.

Here is a photo of the 9 students.  From left to right they are:
John, Kelvin, Felistus, Doreen, Maureen, Faith, Sophia, Joshua and Joseph

Keep watching this blog for updates.

Terry & Joan

John  Male, born 04June 1994, in Form 3 with 305/500 grades.  Desparate situation as parents are separated and no one cares for his welfare.  Wants to become an accountant.

Kelvin  Male, born 25Dec 1993, in Form 3 with 345/500 grades.  Desparate situation as parents are separated and the mother cares for him out of casual jobs.  Wants to become an engineer.

Felistus  Female, born 06July 1993, in Form 3 with 289/500 grades. Humble with peasant farming parents and four other children in school.  Wants to become a doctor.

Doreen  Female, in Form 2 with 258/500 grades.  Comes from a large family of 8 children with no regular incomes for the parents.  Wants to become an engineer.

Maureen  Female, born 19Dec 1992, in Form 2 with 286/500 grades.  Desparate situation as the parents have 5 children in school and no formal employment.  Wants to become an engineer.

Faith  Female, born 22May 1995, in Form 2 with 318/500 grades.  Parents have 3 children in school and no regular sources of income.  wants to become a doctor.

Sophia  Female, in Form 1 with 323/500 grades.  Desparately poor family and none of the siblings have gone through secondary school.  Wants to become a lecturer.

Joseph  Males, in Form 1 with 286/500 grades.  Is a partial orphan with no prospects for the future.  Wants to become a teacher.

Joshua  Male, in Form 1 with 319/500 grades.  Is a partial orphan with a bleak future.  Wants to become a diplomat.

Making Progress Slowly

As of the first half of January, it looks like enrollment at the Kyaithani secondary school this term will be about 125 students.  This is a bit higher than expected due to two factors: (1) the cost of boarding school is rising making that even less possible for the poor people of the Ndandini area, and (2) the "short rains" of November and December have once again failed which is leading to food shortages and will have a negative impact on family income.

The good news is that so far our fund has attracted enough donations to allow us to provide for 9 scholarships.  About 5 of these are a result of donations through this site.  The congregation at St.. Hilda's Anglican church in Sechelt BC has once again shown their generosity and support for the people of Ndandini and has raised $900 to provide three additional scholarships.  Thank you St. Hilda's - your support for the greenhouse at the Ndandini Priimary School and now your support of the scholarship program at the high school is wonderful!

Keep watching for more information as we move forward with the program.

Terry & Joan

Letter/commitment from Kimali, Principal of Kyaithani High School

Dear Potential Donors.

The Ndandini Water Project Dedication on Sunday September 5th, 2010 presented a rare opportunity for the Kyaithani Cluster Community (the students and parents of the high school and 5 primary schools in the immediate Ndandini area) to interact with the donors from Canada and Elsewhere.

On behalf of the community and the school children, I wish to thank you so much for sparing your time and resources to bring hope and enlightenment to such a distant village. The students are very grateful that you visited them that the interaction would provide lasting memories and an opportunity to better them selves through quality education.

I am impressed by your desire to organize a sponsorship program to help further the education of the students. I must confess that this great idea has come at the most opportune time when a large number of our students are on the verge of despair due to the break-up of the family unit and object poverty.

The selection of the students to benefit from the sponsorship program would be based on the state of need, the level of discipline and the academic ability so as to enhance social and economic viability of the program.

In the exchange for the sponsorship, the parents would commit to create and maintain an environment suitable for the full exploitation of the academic potential of the students. The parents could also shoulder part of the cost as active partners with the donors in the provision of teaching and learning materials. 

On their part, the students would give a firm commitment to behave responsibly, to manage their time properly and to spare no effort in promoting their academic progress and social acceptability.

The school would undertake to administer the sponsorship funds in the most prudent and accountable manner for the benefit of the needy students. The school would also make sufficient disclosures of all the undertaking through regular report to the sponsors. The sponsored students would be allowed and enabled to connect directly with the sponsors through letters, pictures, academic performance report forms, duplicate receipts etc.

The sponsorship program is, by all means a very important investment that requires meticulous planning and good structure to ensure its successful implementation for the benefit of the students in Kyaithani Secondary School. The School Board of Governors (B.O.G), as the managers of the school, appointed by the Minister for Education, will play a leading role in the identification of the needy students as well as ensure that the funds actually reach and benefit the deserving cases. The Principal, as the Secretary and chief advisor of the BOG, will ensure transparent and accountable operations of the sponsorship program and give actual and complete reports/updates to the sponsors on regular basis.

Ngumbi Kimali,

Principal, Kyaithani Secondary School

WE WILL POST UPDATES HERE TO KEEP YOU INFORMED

Check back on this blog regularly, or become a "follower", to watch our progress and successes.  You will find photos, emails from students and progress reports here.

Joan & Terry