2020 has started off with a flurry of activity, and we’re already in the process of the annual competitive application process for this year’s new scholarship recipients! Before long, the staff in Kenya, along with the Kenya Advisory Committee will be reviewing and analyzing the applications that come pouring in.

Not only that, but Valentine’s Day is this Friday! What are you planning to do? Have you thought about giving a gift in the name of your Valentine?

ACCES is grateful for your continued and loyal support, and our students thank you for your generosity!

GIVE A VALENTINE’S GIFT NOW

Recent Kibabi University Graduates

Kenyanization in Action

As you know, last year ACCES began a collaborative project with ASEF (the African Scholars’ Education Foundation) in Nairobi to promote the final phase of Kenyanization; when Kenyans are taking on the responsibility to raise funds and provide scholarships to other Kenyans without support from Canadians. ASEF is made up of a group of ACCES Alumni (AAA) that are motivated to see this dream come to fruition, and as we reported last fall, a feasibility study was implemented with two consultants, one in Vancouver (UBC/Sauder School MBA graduate) and a Kenyan in Nairobi (CPA, entrepreneur) to assess the capacity of the team and propose plans to build capacity where it was found to be wanting.

Phase one is complete, with the capacity building proposals being worked on as we speak, and phase two is now underway as well. This second phase is analyzing the landscape for revenue generation using the AAA endowment funds, and assessing risk versus return, and what the requirements will be to manage the various types of investments. The study is looking at a wide array of potential financial vehicles and the team in Nairobi is meeting with successful Kenyan businessmen, investors and entrepreneurs, as well as several international investors, one of whom is associated with UBC in Vancouver.

The goal is for ASEF to become operational in 2021, with the capacity to earn revenue, provide scholarships and maintain it’s investments with good governance.

This is an exciting time in the life of ACCES!

Nairobi AAA team

Possible Expansion of UBC Sauder School Partnership

Last year the UBC Sauder School of Business team in Nairobi put on a very successful executive education workshop over a weekend in June. It was high impact, both from a participants perspective in terms of profitable applications, and the Sauder School as well in terms of teaching experience and content.

ACCES and UBC are talking about how this partnership can be expanded to include more people, so stay tuned to find out what comes of the discussions!

2019 participants at the UBC Executive Education Workshop in Nairobi

Tragic News from Kakamega

According to BBC, a stampede of students resulted in a crush as children were leaving classes for home at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on February 3rd. Education minister George Magoha confirmed to local media that there were 14 deaths.

“The loss of a child is very painful. My condolences to parents who have lost their children,” Mr Magoha told Citizen TV.

Nearly 40 other students were injured – some critically – and were taken to hospital, reports say. Some of them were released after receiving treatment. The cause of the stampede is not yet clear, but Kakamega police commander David Kabena told local media an investigation had been launched. Some reports said the students had rushed down a narrow staircase at the end of the school day. The staircase is said to have collapsed. The Daily Nation newspaper said some of the children fell from the third-floor of the building as they ran.

The headmaster of the school is on the same education board as our staff, and ACCES has worked with them on various projects throughout the years. No ACCES staff had children attending there.

Donations are being collected locally and ACCES will be contributing to help with the grieving parents as they cope with the loss and pay for funeral and other expenses. You are welcome to join us with your donation.

HELP A VICTIM’S FAMILY NOW

ACCES thanks all of you who have switched to monthly donations, and those who have increased their donation amounts! We know how passionate you are about education and your response is helping us to ensure increased stability for our scholarship recipients. If you are still thinking about it, or want more information about converting from an annual to a monthly donation, please send us an email by clicking here, or just call our office at 604-688-4880. Your monthly contribution will go a long way towards establishing a firm base for current and future ACCES students. We know not everyone can do this, but if you are able, it would be a tremendous help to our staff in Kenya.