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Re: Sponsor a Kenyan college science student



FWIW, I'm sponsoring a student.

Cheers,
Bill Larson
Geneva, Switzerland



----- Original Message -----
From: Jane Jackson <jane.jackson@ASU.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: 1999 November 10 5:42 PM
Subject: Sponsor a Kenyan college science student


With Thanksgiving soon arriving, I'm reminded that we physics teachers
have
more than we need. For that I am grateful.

I encourage you to help a science student. Many outstanding young people
in
developing nations can't go to college because their families are
desperately poor. I sponsor 4 college students through a fantastic
Canadian
organization 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. Most of the students are in applied
sciences; for example, I sponsor a pre-med student and a future
electrician.

The nonprofit organization was founded by Beth and George Scott, retirees
in education and law, who had read a book by Robert Rodale pointing out
that one person can make a big difference in the world. They are committed
to global ethics.

A dozen retirees participate in administering ACCES; most live in a suburb
of Vancouver (north of Seattle). They donate their own money for
administrative costs. So every penny that you contribute goes for the
student scholarship.

Some of these retirees (most of them women) 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.

A small amount of money can make a big difference in a Kenyan person's
life. In Kenya the average annual income is only about $250. The
$300/student that I contribute pays for an entire year's college expenses!

Kenya has a population of 28 million. 55% are under 15 years old; 30% of
the children never attend ANY school because they can't afford to pay the
compulsory fees. That unschooled proportion is going up, unfortunately.


ACCES presently gives scholarships to 200 postsecondary students. They
need
more donors, as they have a waiting list of needy students with top-notch
grades.

Perhaps your class could sponsor a student. Or the SPS section. It would
be
easy to do.

Besides sponsoring a student for $300, perhaps you have an old laptop
computer. If so, you could donate it to ACCES to give to a Kenyan college
to train their science and engineering students in computer skills. This
is
a recent project of the Assn. of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists
of British Columbia.

(Credentials/authenticity: ACCES was awarded a 3-year grant from the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). And Beth Scott recently
was given the Lewis Perinbam Award, in honor of the former vice-president
of CIDA, founder of the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), and
holder of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honor for lifetime
achievement. The congratulatory award letter to Beth Scott states: "...the
Trustees were extremely impressed with your exceptional contribution to
education and the emphasis placed on youth and development in Kenya
through
ACCES. As a builder of community development overseas and in Canada, your
efforts demonstrate the best in international development....")

I don't know of any American organization that does similar work; do you?


You can write or e-mail or call them:
Beth Scott, President
ACCES
2441 Christopherson Road
Surrey, British Columbia
Canada V4A 3L2
Phone: (604) 538-7267.
e-mail: Elizabeth & George Scott <acces@smartt.com>
website: www.powernetdesign.com/acces

I quote from a newspaper article on ACCES:
"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
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu
Genius must transform the world, that the world may produce more genius.