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sponsor a Kenyan science student



I've thought for a long time that it's important for our students to have a
service project. I propose this one to you. It's something I would have
found satisfying when I was in college. It's easy to do, too.

You'd ask each person in your class to donate $10 (that's pizza money!),
and pool the money to sponsor a Kenyan student. It's amazing: $250 pays
the entire expenses for a year of post-secondary school!

My husband and I started sponsoring a pre-med student in Kenya last
January. It was so gratifying that we sent another $250. Soon we received a
photo and hand-written autobiography/scholarship application from our
second student, who is starting a 3-year course to become an electrician.

Here are his excerpts - which are typical of these students' lives:
"I was born in a family of 8: 4 boys and 4 girls. My parents are
still alive. They are not educated but only survive on small scale farming.
...My mother has been sick for 18 years. She has been a diabetic since
1982. She has to take insulin injection every day.
...I could not join secondary school due to fees problems. I
thought it wise to start burning some charcoal from the trees my father
planted. I made 800 Kenya shillings from this, and I [used it] to pay
school fees..."
It was in LuBinu secondary school where I met my sponsor. I was
good in class work but had fees problems. One day my physics teacher (Miss
Klopp, sponsor) called me to her house and asked me the problem with school
attendance. I told her my fees problems relating to home problems.
So she decided to pay school fees. Thanks to Jackline!
I did my form four without a problem in LuBinu secondary school.
When I was in LuBinu I was made water prefect, organizing secretary of
science club...
...I have been working for an Asian in the shop, but I was stopped
as they claimed there is no business due to Kenya's economic crisis.
I am still highly interested in education if funds are available,
as EDUCATION HAS NO LIMIT.
My interest now is to pursue a career in electrical installation at
Kisamu Polytechnic for the next three years. I hope it will be wonderful as
I want to be an electrician. Kenya, we are told, will industrialize by the
year 2020. This will enable my career [to be] enjoyful."

------------------------
The organization is called ACCES (African - Canadian Continuing Education
Society). Its purpose is to give scholarships to needy Kenyan students to
continue their education past high school. The students must study in a
field where jobs are available.

The nonprofit organization was founded by retirees (in education and law)
who had read a book by Robert Rodale saying that one person can make a big
difference in the world. They are committed to global ethics.

Eight retirees participate; they live in a suburb of Vancouver (north of
Seattle). They donate their own money for administrative costs.

Some of the women retirees make months - long visits to Kenya at their own
expense to personally coordinate the program there. They have strict
guidelines on which students get supported, and they make sure that the
funds go directly to the university, not to the government where it could
be subject to corruption.

It is amazing to think that so little money can make such a big difference
in a person's life. In Kenya the average annual income is only about $250.
The $250 that we contributed pays for the entire year's college expenses!

When Beth Scott, the retired teacher who is the president of ACCES, replied
to my initial query for information, she enclosed a fax from the Kenya High
Commission in Ottowa. It said in part, "there is yet a greater need to
train more doctors, nurses and graduate teachers of physics to meet
[Kenya's] present and future requirements." I was surprised to find
physics in that sentence!

You can write or e-mail or call them:
Beth Scott, President
ACCES
2441 Christopherson Road
Surrey, British Columbia
Canada V4A 3L2

Their phone number is (604) 538-7267.
e-mail: Elizabeth & George Scott <acces@smartt.com>

I quote from the Maui newspaper article:
"the Scotts point out that the situation in very poor parts of the world,
in both scale and kind, is more desperate than anything known in the rich
societies. "True charity is where the need is", they answer. "Our poorest
people here are wealthy compared to the people there. Further, these
imbalances in the world will eventually impinge upon the 'good life' of the
affluent..."

Cheers,
Jane

Jane Jackson, Dir., Modeling Workshop Project
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287.
602-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu

We know the truth not only by reason but by the heart.
Blaise Pascal, French mathematician