July 21, 2002
Colleagues,
Almost a month ago (on June 26) I posted about a large need:
college scholarships for Kenyan science students. Today I learned from Beth
Scott, the president of ACCES, that she didn't receive any queries
resulting from my post.
I'd like to impress upon you that ACCES is a fantastic organization;
exceedingly well run by retired educators. A school group or a class could
easily provide a scholarship with "pizza money". Students will become
connected with like-minded young people across the ocean, and promote
science education in a developing nation. So here's more information. I
hope you'll write to Beth and get your students or colleagues involved. I
don't know of other organizations that sponsor college students, so here's
your chance!
ACCES, a well-run Canadian charity founded by retired K-12 educators, works
in the highlands of western Kenya to give scholarships to needy young
people. Two volunteer ACCES agents work in 6-month shifts in Kenya to
personally oversee the organization. $300 provides a complete year's
tuition and living expenses.
I'm on the ACCES board of directors. I like ACCES so much that I've
sponsored 8 Kenyan students, most in the sciences and in education. I
correspond with each of them at least once a year. They express
thankfulness when I mail them articles on education, science, etc. For
example, my chemistry education student at Kenyatta University said he was
thrilled to read David Hestenes' 1995 article on Modeling Instruction; he
saw how it could be adapted to chemistry education.
In May, ACCES ran out of money to sponsor qualified students for next fall.
(They have only enough funds each year to support one out of every 8
applicants. The ACCES volunteers in Kenya say the hardest part of their job
is having to turn down so many worthy young people.) So I asked Beth Scott,
the ACCES president, to suggest a science education student who I could
tell you about.
She sent me Nancy Lusuhi's autobiography, which I reproduce below. I hope
that one of you will want to sponsor Nancy Lusuhi's college education,
either individually or through a school club or community organization.
To offer to sponsor Nancy or another impoverished Kenyan, please e-mail
"ACCES (George & Beth Scott)" <acces@shaw.ca>
Our small donations can make a HUGE positive difference in their life & career.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
I am Nancy Mukari Lusuhi. I was born in a village called Shikoye, situated
in Shirumba Location in 1981 in March.
We are a family of nine consisting of two parents and seven children, three
being girls and four boys. We live in a single thatched house situated on a
quarter acre of land. Both my parents are peasants and are always busy on
this small land to at least raise crops that can be sold to provide for our
basic needs.
I am the fourth born and ahead of me are two brothers and a sister. All are
just form four leavers, and how they came to go through Form Four secondary
education is just a miracle. They could stay out of school for even a term
due to lack of school fees. Though they completed secondary school through
bursaries sent to schools to help needy students, my sister and one of my
brothers could not get their certificates due to fee balances because the
bursaries were inadequate. At the moment my brother and sister are just
home helping my parents on the farm while my brother disappeared to Nairobi
with his friend with a hope that he will find a job ...
It is the small farm we depend on for our basic needs, and the money from
it becomes inadequate for secondary needs like education.
With me I was lucky, I was a regular attendee at school in primary because
I was bright so all my teachers liked me and never wanted me to stay out of
school even a single minute. Despite the fact that I had fee balances I
could just stay in school. Luckily I passed highly my Kenya Certificate of
Primary Education (K.C.P.E.) and CHES gave a hearing unto my pleas and
cries by offering me a scholarship for secondary education. I worked hard
and managed to get a B+ and now have been offered a chance at Kenyatta
University in Bachelor of Education (sciences) and aspire to work harder
than ever given the opportunity to pursue my education.
I always help my parents on the farm while at home and do the general home
duties like cooking and fetching water. Since in future I may be a teacher
if granted the opportunity to study further, then I will be devoted unto my
duty and help my fellow needy Africans my level best, just the way I have
been helped.
[Written in spring 2002; submitted to ACCES. A picture of Nancy, taken by
ACCES staff, accompanies the original autobiography.]
--------------------
Explanations & notes:
-- ACCES = African - Canadian Continuing Education Society.
-- Form Four = grade 12 in high school.
-- CHES = Canadian Harambee Education Society. A charity founded by a
Canadian high school teacher who taught in Kenya. It provides scholarships
for Kenyan and Tanzanian girls who are too poor to attend high school.
Fewer girls than boys go to school, unfortunately.
-- School fees: School isn't free in those countries. Almost 1/3 of the
children never set foot in a school, because they are too poor! Fewer than
10% attend high school. Less than 1% qualify for college.
-- Fetching water: one of my students, now graduated, must walk over a
mile to get water. He carries it home on his head.
-- Selling crops: The median Kenyan income is $1/day.
-- Looking for a job in Nairobi: the unemployment rate in Kenya is 80%.
---------------------
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
"the gift of fantasy [creative imagination] has meant more
to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
-Albert Einstein