Annual General Report 2018
President’s Report to the Annual General meeting of Power of Education Africa Foundation
May 12, 2019
2018 was the sixth year of the Foundation’s operations. In Canada, this has been a year of reviewing our vision, our rate of growth, and our workload, so that our operations remain sustainable and consistent with our values. In Kenya, this was a year of transition, as we implemented our succession plan for our operations there. We had 18 new graduates in 2018. We sponsored 20 new secondary students, bringing our total number of students to 121. We have 85 students in secondary school and about 36 students continuing in post-secondary institutions. Both in Kenya and in Canada, we have been focussed on securing volunteers and helpers with the skills needed to run the Foundation smoothly into the future. Having the right skill base amongst our boards of directors and volunteers spreads the responsibilities for specific areas of work over a number of people, and protects against volunteer burnout. I am grateful to work with our Board of Directors in Kenya, our Board of Directors in Canada, and our specialized volunteers here, all gifted, dedicated people who are willing to bring their knowledge and skills to the joyous work of educating some of the most needy and deserving girls on the planet.
Succession planning has been on our minds since the inception of the Foundation. In March Darlene Durrad joined our Board of Directors in Canada and has now officially succeeded me as the person responsible for carrying out the work in Kenya. Darlene is a single parent of two young adults, and brings many years of experience as a business analyst with ICBC to her new role as Director of Kenya Operations.
This January, Darlene travelled to Kenya with me for the second time, with the intention of mutually discerning whether she would be the right person to succeed me in taking over the work in Kenya. For six and a half weeks Darlene engaged in every aspect of the work: travelling the bumpy, dusty, or muddy, roads; interviewing students and their guardians for potential sponsorship; purchasing supplies for students, for our office and home base; meeting with school principals, teachers and staff, and making clear our expectations for the schools’ teaching standards and attention to our students. She continued to learn cultural traditions and practices.
Darlene managed all cash expenditures. She insisted on close attention to detail, greater helper accountability and improved work habits. She demonstrated patient persistence in dealing with Kenyan bureaucracy. She recognized the faces of corruption. Darlene managed all of this hard work with practical common sense, respectful communication with others, and good humour. She demonstrated care for our students, for our helpers, and, touchingly, for me. It was bittersweet for me to meet with all our students, teachers, and clergy, not knowing if I would ever see them again. Over our time together in Kenya, Darlene assumed more authority, stepping into her new role. I know that we are in very capable hands. I welcome Darlene as our Director of Kenya Operations.
ACTIVITIES IN KENYA
This year we made sure to interview prospective students on MFangano Island. We had not been able to interview there last year, and there were girls left behind, unable to go to school. Our final group of new students included 13 girls from the island and 7 from other areas. The girls from the island had far to travel, and their guardians had to be present for registration at each school, so they all came to stay overnight at our home base, and we did the shopping for supplies that the guardians could not afford. In all, with students, guardians, and helpers we had 32 overnight, and no cook! Our cook was in hospital with her baby who had malaria.
The students rolled out their school mattresses and blankets for themselves and their family member, then they cooked supper with our helper, Alice, and graduate student, Elizabeth. After supper, we filled every student’s trunk or suitcase with their personal and school supplies, and after breakfast the next morning they were ready for enrolment in school.
This year, the bad roads and heavier work load necessitated a change in our home base location. During the final week of our stay, we moved from Rapogi, where we have stayed from the beginning, to St. John’s Minor Seminary in Rakwaro, near the busy town of Rongo. The move helped to save time and raised some aspects of our work to a new level. We now had the advantages of good security, good work space, prepared meals, privacy, better proximity to banks, shopping, and a central stage (bus loop) for our post-secondary students to come for meetings. Another major benefit of the move is that the Principal and Rector of the Minor Seminary, Fr George, is also our Treasurer, and this made the financial work easier for us. As we are now operating as an NGO in Kenya, our Treasurer co-signs cheques, retains copies of files, and works with our accountant. We are very grateful for the generous hospitality that Fr. George and his staff provided, and for his ongoing voluntary dedication to the work of the Foundation. We are also enormously grateful for the hospitality and support that Fr. Timon and his family have provided us in Rapogi over the years, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them and working in that community.
In January, Darlene and I, in consultation with three students and their family members, made the difficult decision to move these girls from the large schools in which they were floundering academically, to a smaller school that promises to be a more nurturing environment for them; we also placed them back one year. It was a risk for them and for us, but it turned out to be just right; they feel more secure in their new school, and hopeful that they will be able to catch up.
While we were in Kenya, Darlene, our helper, Alice, and I went with Fr. George to meet the Minister of Education in Rongo, to let him know about the activities of the Foundation in his area of responsibility, and to inform him that we would be holding a mentorship program for our students during the Easter holiday at Rakwaro Minor Seminary.
During the Easter and Christmas holidays of 2018, we provided mentorship programs for small groups of our students whose marks were low in some subjects. This Easter holiday (2019) we concentrated on twenty-six Form 4 students in a mentorship program with five fine teachers who are supporting them in their aspirations to do well enough in their final exams to be accepted into post-secondary institutions. We are deeply grateful to the sponsor of this program.
When we arrived on Mfangano Island in January this year, to interview for new students, some of our 2018 graduates met us at the ferry and offered their volunteer services to the Foundation. I was surprised and moved. We hired three of them to help us with the interview process, and then again to help enrol our new students into their respective schools. They understood the struggles and life circumstances of our new students, for they too come from the same remote island. They encouraged the younger students, and now act as resources and mentors for them. One of these graduates, a top student, Elizabeth, remained working with us for about three weeks and proved invaluable.
In February, we met with 15 of our 2018 graduates to help them think through their future post-secondary education, taking into account their hopes, their grades, and the institutions to which they might apply. They are required by the Kenyan government to apply for more than one discipline, and they may not be given their first choice, as the government controls which program they can join. Most of these students will apply to programs this month and be accepted over the next few months, to begin studying in September. However, one student, Vivian, recently entered training in Nairobi to become a police officer. Another, Elizabeth, whom we hired this year, has been accepted into the Kenya Registered Nursing Program, at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital College of Health Sciences. When she first applied, online, her application was refused, but our law student, Felix, who studies at Moi University Law School, suggested that Elizabeth travel there and apply in person. She did this, with his help, and was accepted. We are happy for Elizabeth; she will be a wonderful nurse.
Currently, our 2017 graduates are studying for degrees in law, education, nursing and accounting. We also have girls in diploma programmes leading to jobs in engineering, micro-finance, community development, and social work.
While we were in Kenya, Darlene and I arranged for the purchase of five computers, one for our helper, Alice, and four for post-secondary students who require them for their programs. We are grateful to Samora Odeny who was able to purchase them for us in Nairobi at a reasonable price and distribute them to our students.
We now have an accountant in Kenya, Maurice Chacha, recommended by Fr. George. Darlene, Alice, Fr. George and I went to meet Maurice in Kehancha, which is home to the Kuria peoples. It was interesting for us to learn about their cultural traditions from Maurice, as most of the people we work with are Luo. Maurice reported having worked with NGOs, and having had a positive experience of working with Canadians in the past. After our meeting, we were unanimous in deciding that he is the right person for us at this time. Maurice will do our monthly accounting, file our Kenyan income tax returns, and submit the annual audits required by the NGO Board.
Our lawyer in Kenya, Jaynee Ngenge, has agreed to serve on our Kenyan Board of Directors. All of our directors serve as volunteers, and I am honoured to have Jaynee join us.
ACTIVITIES IN CANADA
The Board of Directors has wrestled with our priorities this year, whether to concentrate on accepting as many secondary students as possible, or to give equal priority to supporting our graduates in their post-secondary education, which can lead to higher income and more fulfilling work. We decided that they are equally important and we will continue to do both.
The Board has also been discussing the structure of the Foundation. We are all volunteers, with the exception of our paid helpers in Kenya. We are now asking if we need to expand our volunteer base, or if we have reached the point where we need to hire someone to help us on a seasonal or part-time basis. For a volunteer Board of Directors, a number of our activities are too labor intensive, but also too important to give up. For example, we guide and support each graduate through post-secondary programs, which involves paying tuition fees to different institutions at individual and unpredictable times of the year. We also maintain a time-consuming personal correspondence with our donors and sponsors, a practice which has marked our Foundation’s deep appreciation of our growing number of donors. We have not resolved this matter, but are aware that, as we continue to grow, we will need to make some changes.
Our Technology Director, Lauren Selden, guided us through the development of POEA Social Media Guidelines. Our goal is to maintain the dignity, respect and agency of every individual who is touched by the work of POEA. Our guidelines include several areas of activity: securing student and family permission to use their photographs, protecting their privacy and their right to say no; refraining from engaging in polarizing religious, political and cultural issues and language; having checks and balances on material that is posted; dealing with negative messages and issues that can arise on social media. We also have a policy about the kind of contact volunteers and Board members can have with students and families, and a policy about posting during periods of natural or other disasters and international incidents. We have benefited from Lauren’s expertise and her ethical standards of practice.
Bo Fodchuk completed the legal transition of the Foundation as required by the new Societies Act of British Columbia. This work entailed revising our Constitution and Bylaws to be in compliance with requirements of the new Act.
Linda Robertson continued the process of developing a Policy and Procedures Manual, which addresses ethical practices and cultural sensitivity in all aspects of our work.
We held our annual Pre-Christmas Festive Tea at St. Mary’s Anglican Church at the end of November. Under the fine leadership of our Hospitality Chair, Lesley Blok, our guests received a warm welcome, an afternoon of delicious food and tea, and from all Board members, our deepest gratitude for our donors’ support of the Foundation’s work. I presented a student’s letter which illustrated the effects of the trauma and hopelessness that a total orphan experiences as she falls “into anybody’s hands,” as she said, naming the felt experience of a number of our students. The student also wrote of the importance of the unwavering educational support and care provided by the Foundation’s representatives and her sponsor. I wanted sponsors to hear about the healing effects, not only of the gift of sending her to school, but also the gift of their commitment to stand beside her and continue the support till her education is complete.
Lorna Bennett, psychologist and author, with a background in school counselling, diagnostics and teaching, and Megan Otton, recently retired professor of English, have agreed to form a Student Support Committee to address the issues of student loss and trauma and their effects on learning. Sometimes a student is worried sick about their only parent who is in hospital or is suffering abuse. Sometimes a student loses her only parent or guardian. Some have suffered such trauma that the effects intrude on their studies and their outlook. These students must return to school, but they struggle to study and keep their grades up. We want to be as sensitive as possible in these situations and to get the student the appropriate help in a world where suffering and loss are so commonplace that students are expected to simply get on with life.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
We welcome Darlene Durrad to the Board of Directors and to her role as Director of Kenya Operations. Darlene will be the presenter at the May 2019 Annual Reception. She is undertaking some of the administrative work with me in Canada, so that she is familiar with all aspects of the Foundation. Darlene will be in Kenya again next January and February, taking full responsibility for the work there. She will assume more communication with our Kenyan Board of Directors and with Kenyan school officials between her annual visits to Kenya. She also recently participated in the small committee charged with re-visioning how the Foundation might grow over the next five years.
Lesley Blok. Lesley plans to join Darlene in the work in Kenya next January and February. She will bring her level head and warm, student-centred heart to her work in Kenya with our students, as she does on the Board. As Chair of Hospitality, Lesley co-designs and delivers our e-invitations for Foundation events. She provides the food for our Board meetings and AGM. She co-ordinates the Hospitality Team in planning, advertising and implementing our Annual Reception in May at Christ Church Cathedral, and the Festive Tea in November at St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Kerrisdale. Lesley makes up informative poster boards for our events, showing images of our students in all aspects and stages of their lives. She is available to provide the food and beverages for events in homes or offices at other times of the year.
Our secretary, Shaaron Fedora, prepares agendas and notices of meetings, records comprehensive minutes of our Board meetings, and prepares annual tax receipts. She also makes an invaluable contribution by supervising and reconciling the work hours and monthly expenditures of Alice, our Kenyan helper, during the months that we are not in Kenya. Throughout the year, Alice pays for student room and board, school supplies, and student travel to and from home on school breaks. Shaaron checks every receipt, reconciling expenditures to bank statements, and she prepares monthly reconciliation reports, which is a real help to our bookkeeper, Judy, and especially to me.
Syd Gallinger chairs our meetings and provides steady leadership on the Board. Syd retired last year from his role of Treasurer, but this year, during the long absences of our current Treasurer, Syd has continued to provide sound financial oversight and guidance for the Board of Directors, as well as providing information to donors and sponsors, so that they are fully informed about the Foundation’s use of their financial gifts. Syd has also set up our RBC account to receive and facilitate gifts of securities. He would welcome these gifts from donors. Over the formative years of the Foundation, Syd set up our financial systems, structuring our financial records, developing our financial statements, and filing annual reports to Canada Revenue Agency. Now, as we have been in a similar formative stage as an NGO in Kenya, Syd has again guided us in putting a sound financial infrastructure in place. Syd recently chaired a small committee through a discussion of how and at what pace we want to grow, or “scale up” the work of the Foundation; and what additional infrastructure we will need to put in place if we grow at our current pace of doubling our student load every four or five years. I am more grateful than I can ever express for his gifts and his dedication.
Anne Kober. With Anne’s legal background, she provides wise, practical advice to the Board. She has the ability to see the potential long-term consequences of decisions, and she has protected us from making mistakes. Anne successfully guided us through the several phases of NGO registration, the banking signatory protocols there, and the composition of the Board of Directors in Kenya. Anne has worked to protect our interests while achieving a balance of Kenyan and Canadian representation.
Treasurer, Francis Uy. Francis is a recently retired accountant who is new to the running of the Foundation. He has been away most of the past year, and returns in June to take up his role as Treasurer. During the periods that Francis has been here, he has worked with Syd Gallinger and Judy Mostardi to learn their way of financial record keeping and reporting. Francis prepared the Annual Financial Statements, and filed the Annual Report to CRA. We look forward to working with Francis over the coming year.
Anne Millar. Anne is knowledgeable about most aspects of the Foundation’s operations. Throughout the year, Anne corresponds with sponsors and donors, sending out hundreds of hand written letters, photographs of our work in Kenya, student letters to sponsors, and tax receipts. The emphasis that Anne places on personal communication with our donors and sponsors is one way that we express our gratitude to them. It is also educative, as our donors and sponsors stay engaged and informed about our work and know how their money is being spent. Anne updates our donor and sponsor contact information. She maintains our student records, and so gets to know our students, their schools and home situations. Together, Anne and I match sponsors with their students. Anne also designs forms that help us keep track of student and family contact information, the students’ schools, form, grades, admission numbers; also forms that help Alice, our helper, to work efficiently. She also recently participated in the small committee charged with re-visioning how the Foundation might grow over the next five years. I am most grateful for Anne’s dedication, her consistency and her hard work, day in and day out, over the years.
Dr. Phil Sestak. Phil is now the CEO of our operations in Kenya, sitting ex-officio on the Kenyan Board of Directors, as well as being a Director on the Board in Canada. Phil has the authority at our Kenyan bank and with the schools to run the operation in Kenya, if needed. With many years of experience working as a volunteer HIV/AIDS physician in Africa, Phil brings extensive knowledge to both Boards of Directors. This January and February, Phil did not come to Kenya, and we missed his presence. However he provided valuable medical guidance by phone to both Darlene and me when we needed it. Phil also recently participated in the small committee charged with re-visioning how the Foundation might grow over the next five years.
Linda Robertson is working to develop polices and practices that will include important material for volunteers coming to Kenya, such as a significant section on banking, and ethical practices working with school officials in Kenya. Linda is also studying the Kenyan Constitution and the laws governing women in Kenya and she will present a talk on that subject at our Tea in the Fall. She volunteered with the Hospitality Committee this past year. Linda recently interviewed Darlene about her trip to Kenya, so that Darlene could reflect on her work there, and distill her own learnings and wisdom.
Lauren Selden, our Technology Director, updated our website, creating a fresh, clean look. She did the research and purchased a new camera and a photo printer for our work in Kenya. She created the attractive email and print invitations for our Annual Festive Tea and Annual Reception. Lauren designs the beautiful sheets of photos that are sent out to our donors. She also formats the Annual Report for publication, and edits the Keynote presentations for our events. She facilitated our development of ethical guidelines for social media and is managing the Foundation’s social media profile. I am grateful for the diverse gifts that Lauren brings to the Foundation.
Dr. David Yeung and Dr. Moira Chan. We are very grateful to the Moira and David Foundation for continuing their major financial support of the Foundation. They sponsor students, and pay for the installation of solar lamps in the homes of our day scholars. Their donations also subsidize our graduate students in their post-secondary education; not every sponsor is willing or able to continue carrying the sometimes considerable cost of their student’s post-secondary tuition and room and board. David also continues to make greeting cards for the Foundation from the wonderful photographs he took when in Kenya. Moira initiated the development of a database for us.
ADVISORS AND CORE VOLUNTEERS
Our bookkeeper, Judy Mostardi. Judy’s work continues to be an essential cornerstone of the Foundation. Judy is highly competent, dedicated, and steady. She spends hours each month reconciling our expenditures in Canada, and our helper’s expenditures in Kenya. She calculates conversion rates and keeps our financial records in two currencies. Over the years, Judy has drafted and updated record-keeping forms and codes for our daily use in Kenya; now, she is engaging with our new Kenyan accountant, Maurice, informing him of her accounting practices, and providing him with resources. Judy prepares semi-annual financial statements. She met with Darlene and me when we returned from Kenya this year, to go over every expenditure—from paying for school books, tuition fees and medical examinations for our students, to purchasing sacks of sweet potatoes and omena (small fish) on the roadside.
Fr. Timon Ochieng Odeny, our Kenyan Advisor, assists the Foundation in many facets of our work in Kenya. Fr. Timon also acts as Secretary on the Foundation’s Board of Directors in Kenya. He was not able to be in Kenya this past January and February at the time of our visit, but when he returned to his home in Rapogi after our departure, he helped us to make decisions about post-secondary financial assistance for some graduates.
Fr. George Ochola, Rector and Principal of Rakwaro Minor Seminary, is Treasurer of the new Board of Directors in Kenya. He is a very good administrator. Fr. George has set up Foundation records and is meeting with our new accountant. He is engaged in budgeting, writing cheques (with other signatories), and keeping track of expenditures. He also worked with our helper, Alice, to run the 2019 Easter mentorship program. He liaised with teachers, support staff, and me, so that the program went smoothly.
We welcome Megan Otton to her new role as Co-Chair of the Hospitality Committee, working closely with Lesley Blok; and also to her role on the Student Support Committee. As a recently retired English Professor at Langara College, Megan brings a wealth of experience in working with young adults. We are grateful that Megan is willing to put her energy and diverse talents in service to the Foundation.
We welcome Lorna Bennett, psychologist, to the new Student Support Committee. Lorna is the winner of the David Kendal Master Teacher award for excellence in teaching exceptional children. She is experienced in the diagnosis of learning disabilities, and has worked extensively with students who have suffered trauma and loss. We are honoured to have her join us.
We welcome Hilary Blok, who is consulting with Lesley Blok on the mass mailing of our semi-annual invitations.
We welcome Heather Edgar to the Hospitality Committee. Heather will help with the food and service and has now undertaken to obtain the Serve it Right license.
We thank Bo Fodchuk, lawyer, for his legal advice and the practical work of filing our Annual Reports in Victoria. Bo amended our Constitution and Bylaws to bring them into compliance with the new Societies Act of British Columbia. This revision was successful, and the Foundation’s application for transition was approved in January 2018. We are grateful for Bo’s expertise, time, and painstaking work.
We thank Molly Jonsson and Kathy Rayher for their ongoing contributions to the Hospitality Committee. Molly and Kathy provide a warm, personal welcome to visitors attending our events. Kathy also works quietly and efficiently preparing food and serving at our events, and has been responsible for the Serve it Right license.
We thank Shelley Stanhope and Maria Meakin for their ongoing contribution to the Hospitality Committee, and especially for their warm, friendly way with guests at our events.
Thank you to Ginger Shaw who worked at the welcome table, personally welcoming every guest to our Annual Tea in November. She will join Kathy Rayher in that role again at our Annual Reception.
Thank you to Sarah Patisson who has done a masterful job of presiding over the kitchen and food preparation at our events. She has taken some time off this year and we will miss her at the Annual Reception. We wish her well.
Thank you to Martha Lou Henley for her donation of delicious, home-made desserts for our Festive Teas and our Annual Receptions each year.
A special thank you to Christ Church Cathedral and the Very Reverend Peter Elliott, for generously making the Hall and staff available for our Annual Reception in May, and for working with our committee on visioning. Thank you to St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, for generously making a room available for our November Festive Tea, and to their Verger, John Taylor, for helping us to implement the event.
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Fifteen of our eighteen 2018 graduates will soon apply for post-secondary programs in universities and polytechnic schools. Some will be eligible for government loans. However, they will still need our help. It will likely require a financial commitment similar to what we are paying for boarding school - perhaps a bit less if the student is in a polytechnic school near home, or maybe considerably more for students who are accepted into universities in Nairobi or other cities far from home. As our number of graduates is growing each year, and some sponsors may choose not to continue after their original four-year commitment, we will need donors willing to finance post-secondary education.
The Foundation does not pay for travel to Kenya, except by designated donations. It is my hope that we will continue to receive donations of Aeroplan miles. We were grateful for a large donation of points in the past year that enabled Darlene and me to fly in January and February.
We continue to be deeply indebted to our donors and sponsors. You are changing the lives of African girls and young women forever, and bringing fresh hope to their families and communities. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Shiella Fodchuk