Tumaini Grandmothers Group Sends Update on Scholarship Funding

Posted on Feb 10, 2010

The Tumaini Grandmothers Group reports that it expects to resume payments on its loan from Burning Bush this month. The grandmothers had borrowed money to pay school tuition for their grandchildren and to purchase sheep, goats, and chickens. They planned to breed the animals and use the proceeds to pay back the loan and meet future tuition expenses. The drought in central Kenya last year made it difficult for them to carry out their plans, but conditions have improved and they are expecting to be back on track soon.

Members of the group are also making baskets and knitting pullovers to sell. They send word that scholarships to date, totaling Ksh154,188 (around US$2,100), have helped seven students, with tuition for the four students in day school covered for 2009, 2010, and 2011. (The Kenyan government’s promises of free secondary education have not materialized, but the cost of some schools has gone down slightly, so the scholarship money has stretched farther than originally anticipated.) The grandmothers have requested an additional Ksh158,357 (around $2,140) to pay the remaining 2010 tuition balance for three students, as well as tuition expenses for seven more students who have been admitted to high school. Of the total amount, approximately 45 percent will go to one young woman, who is completing a two-year medical training course this year.

Primary education is free in Kenya, but secondary education is open only to students who pass a national entrance exam and are able to pay modest tuition fees. Last year, Burning Bush expanded its outreach in central Kenya to include microlending to support secondary education for qualified students in the area.