Join us this spring as we support
Bahati Scholars
The education system in Kenya is managed by the government, and just like in the U.S., schools were closed in March because of the pandemic. However, unlike in the US, most of our Bahati Scholarship students have not benefitted from online learning opportunities. Many of them left the Bahati area and returned to either their homes or to live with relatives and have not returned to class since March. We have stayed in communication with our mission partners at the Nairobi Central Presbytery via both email and Zoom calls and have wired funds from our FPC Global Outreach budget to provide food and sanitizing supplies to be distributed to the students by the staff of the Presbytery. See accompanying photo(s). We’ve heard that infection rates and food insecurity are currently increasing, and we will continue to ask how we can best help the students.
Our thirteen Form 4 students (seniors) returned to their schools in October and will begin the third and final term of their secondary education this month and sit for their final exams in April. Students in Forms 1, 2 and 3 (Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors) may or may not begin their school year in January – that decision is currently in flux, as are so many decisions about education around the world – but we’ve learned that when they DO resume classes, they will start the second of the three terms of their academic year, which they began in January of this year.
Since 2008, members of our congregation have provided scholarship funds in addition to their annual stewardship pledge as sponsors or co-sponsors of a total of 237 students. In addition, the Elders, Deacons, and Choir each sponsor a student. We will be making a presentation during a worship service this month to seek 2021 support for the 57 students whose education has been disrupted by COVID-19. The annual scholarship amount is $840 per student, and sponsors are asked to commit a full or partial scholarship of a student and communicate with them periodically by email through Susan Ngari, the Social Worker who manages the program.
Those of us who have visited Kenya and met these students are convinced that this FPC mission program is life-saving and life-giving for the young people who receive the gift of a high school education because of the generosity of people on the other side of the world. We hope you’ll consider joining us! For more information or to give a gift to the program, contact Mary-Stuart Alderman, , or Jeff Myers, jmyrs12@yahoo.com.
By Jack & Mary-Stuart Alderman and Jeff Myers on Behalf of FPC Global Missions
