Seventy-nine volunteers – across this country and in Kenya – have committed to walk or run 10 Km in late April to raise awareness of the work of the Kenya Education Endowment Fund (KEEF) and funds for education in Kenya.
As well as offering scholarships and bursaries for secondary and post-secondary education in Kenya, KEEF offers some 130 secondary scholarship students workshops, including an annual multi-day Life Skills Workshop. Topics such as assertiveness, first aid, teamwork, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial skills help prepare them for the world of work after high school or for additional academic success if they are able to qualify for assistance to enter post-secondary education in Kenya. 73 members of five teams in B.C., Ontario/Quebec, and Kenya, along with 6 individuals walking or running independently in B.C. and Alberta, hope to raise donations to fund future workshops. These are planned and delivered by Kenyan and Canadian volunteers, the Canadians travelling and staying in Kenya at their own expense.
This year’s 10Km Vancouver Sun Run is a virtual one, due to the pandemic. This has given KEEF a wonderful opportunity to involve volunteers across B.C., elsewhere in Canada, and in Kenya. Volunteers, aged from their early 20’s to early 80’s, will take part in late April – either as walkers or runners – to help educate Kenyan youth. The teams and individuals have been training in snow, hot sun, and rain – depending on their locations.
At the multi-day Life Skills Workshops, some of the students – who have developed a good business plan during the workshop – will receive a small, low-interest loan to start a small business during the school holidays. This is one their family can continue after the student returns to class. Buying groundnuts to sell in the local marketplace, growing extra vegetables, or raising poultry to sell eggs, raising a goat or calf are some of the plans. When the loan and small interest are repaid the next year, another student can be added to the number able to receive support to start a small business venture. It is to fund the multi-day Life Skills Workshop and other educational events for KEEF’s secondary school scholarship holders that this group of 79 energetic volunteers is taking part in the April 10Km Virtual Vancouver Sun Run. Participants choose a local site and any day between April 18th and 30th to take part. We are looking forward to this unique opportunity and delighted to be working in co-operation with a team of a dozen men and women in Kenya.
For information about KEEF’s work or our volunteer teams and individual walkers and runners, contact Shelagh at shelaghag@shaw.ca or 604-415-9397. To support the volunteers and KEEF’s Life Skills Workshops: to donate by cheque, please make it payable to KEEF and post c/o M. Klesner, #904 – 2135 Argyle Ave. West Vancouver, V7V 1A5. To give via e-transfer, send to keefcan2010@gmail.com. Online ways to donate are at www.kenyaeducation.org. Please indicate if your gift is specifically in support of a team or an individual participant(s). Otherwise, please just designate “for Sun Run” on your donation. The parents of the young people we assist are mainly subsistence farmers who cannot afford the uniform, shoes, tuition, books, etc. needed to attend high school in Kenya. No amount is too small to be of help! Tax-deductible receipts are available for all donations. Follow KEEF on Facebook and Instagram.
On behalf of our Canadian and Kenyan volunteers and the young people in Kenya whose education will benefit, thank you! Asante Sana!
By Shelagh Armour-Godbolt
