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| Susan Mboya Kidero, Nairobi governor Evans Kidero's wife. Ms Kidero spearheads the Zawadi Education Fund. Image Courtesy |
Under the Zawadi Education Fund spearheaded by Ms Susan Mboya Kidero, the amount was collected during a fund raiser in Nairobi.
The fundraiser was attended by various top
personalities including Nation Media Group chief executive Linus Gitahi
and businessman Chris Kirubi who was the master of ceremony.
Other key guests included Mr William Asiko,
President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, businessman Manu
Chandaria, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s spokesman Salim Lone and
Mr Isaac Awuondo.
Other organisations which participated in the annual event to
send off the girls cum-fund raiser were Coca-Cola Africa Foundation,
Nairobi Bottlers and Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa Business
Unit who gave a combined Sh10.5 million, Centum Investments Sh 5
million, Gem Apartments Ltd Sh4.25 million, Google Ltd Sh16.8 million.
Commercial Bank of Africa gave Sh1 million and pledged to give a similar
amount to Zawadi each year, while Nation Media Group pledged support
valued at Sh 8.5 million. Mr Kirubi and his friends raised a combined
Sh10 million.
Started in 2002, Zawadi is modelled on the
Kennedy-Mboya Africa Students Airlifts Programme of the 1960s pioneered
by the late Tom Mboya, Susan’s father. Among the beneficiaries of the
airlift were Barrack Obama Snr, the current US president’s father.
The Kennedy- Mboya airlift saw over 1000
academically talented Africans from 5 countries being educated in the US
and in turn becoming the first crop of African academicians.
Since its inception, Zawadi’s 230 beneficiaries
have gained entrance and won full scholarships at 69 top colleges and
universities in the United States, Canada, Ghana, Uganda and South
Africa.
These schools include some of the world’s best:
Yale University, MIT, Harvard University, University of Cape Town (South
Africa), Kwame Nkrumah University (Ghana), Makerere University (Uganda)
and JKUAT (Kenya).
Zawadi beneficiaries are picked on the basis of
their academic strength (top one or two per cent in their class),
financial need and demonstrated leadership abilities.
Susan outlined the funds success and exponential
growth over the last 10 years, terming the next decade as the
transformative decade for the girls and indeed the African continent.
“Having started with three students and a
sponsorship kitty of Sh40 million in 2002, the fund has in the last 10
years facilitated full scholarships called at over Sh3.32 billion to
over 230 girls.” She added the growth in scholarships received has been
matched by a similar growth in partner schools from an initial two
partnering schools to the current 69.
According to Susan, the success of the program has
been built on a foundation of numerous complementary factors key
amongst them the 100 per cent graduation rate of the Zawadi Girls and
the embodiment of characteristics and traits ingrained in the Zawadi
Africa scholars that makes them stand out as students and members of
society.
“We take our girls through a rigorous induction
program that prepares them for change and couples with our motto ‘Each
one teach one’ we impress on them that their success will be the key
that opens the door for the next applicant,” said Susan.
Terming the fund as an initiative that keeps on
giving, Susan added that "Zawadi benefits do not stop at our direct
beneficiaries; indeed over the years, Zawadi has created a full cycle of
uplifting girls from primary school to university.
Zawadi Africa has given rise to numerous auxiliary
programs, initiated and run by our very own beneficiaries that benefit
girls and boys from primary school to college." Key amongst these
programs are initiatives like Beyond the Classroom, Masomo Mashinani and
PACE all run by Zawadi Africa scholars as a way of giving back to the
community.
And it’s with this anticipation of multiplication
of benefits that the Zawadi Africa Education fund has set forth an
ambitious target of having 1000 students from 40 African countries and
400 partner schools by the year 2020. (Courtesy of Sunday Nation)