From Brookswood to Kenya
Langley Times
May 14, 2008
Ruth STEWART/Special to The Times
Last Wednesday (May 7), Kelsey Mooney and Serena Koo, student representatives of the Students for Humanity Club at Brookswood Secondary School presented $10,300 to ACCES (African Canadian Continuing Education Society).
ACCES was holding its annual sponsorship lunch at Eaglequest Golf Club in Surrey,.
The students raised the funds to assist ACCES in its goal to help provide more education in Kenya. They were accompanied by sponsor teachers Lynie Tener and Terri Gambrel.
At the lunch, the students displayed a long, wide sheet of paper where the hand imprints of all the participants of a recent 24-hour fast at Brookswood were framed by decorative drawings.
Nicole Dennison, one of the participants, explained what the club did.
“We decided this year to support ACCES after we had listened to Don Larson describe what ACCES is doing for students in Kenya. We all asked our neighbours and friends to sponsor us.”
ACCES was started in Surrey 15 years ago by Beth and George Scott who, seeing the plight of the children in the Kakamega district of Kenya, initially funded the project themselves. The poverty level in Kakamega was such that the children were deprived of all hope of an education.
From such small beginnings, with the assistance of friends and colleagues in the educational field (Beth was a Surrey school district administrator and George was a lawyer), ACCES has grown .
Since its inception, ACCES has expanded. greatly. Now almost 1,700 elementary, secondary and post-secondary students are learning because of ACCES.
Kenyan villagers eagerly build the schools and dig the wells necessary for the schools, while funding for teachers and educational programming comes from ACCES. Administration in Kenya is handled by Kenyan. Enock Mambili, who is in close communication with Rick Juliusson, his Canadian counterpart.
The federal government, recognizing the value of the project, now provides $3 for every $1 donated. Less than 10 per cent of the funds are used for administrative purposes. AIDS and health education is now in place.
Small business loans, which have been 93 per cent repaid to date, are providing the people of Kakamega with opportunities to help themselves that they never had before.
“The hardest part of the job is choosing which students to accept into the programs,” said Maureen MacDonald, ACCES president and former assistant superintendent of schools in Surrey.
The most recent development has been Adult Basic Education. The adults of the community are now able to attend classes after their day’s work is done.
Like their grandchildren — many grandparents are raising their grandchildren as their parents were stricken with AIDS — they are learning to read and write. They can see the benefits and opportunities that come with an education.
Recent unrest in Kenya sent a ripple of concern for the Kenyan staff in the Kakamega district. Contingency plans were drawn up to ensure the safety of the female staff and children, but all is calm again now.
ACCES supporter Ruth Stewart, a retired Brookswood teacher, said she was very impressed by the students’ commitment.
“What I feel is laudable is that the students expected no praise or publicity.”
