Annual General Report 2020

President’s Report to the Annual General Meeting of Power of Education Africa Foundation

May 17, 2021

2020 was the eighth year of Power of Education Africa’s operations in Canada and Kenya. This year saw a great many challenges, both here and in Kenya as most of us did not expect to still be experiencing restrictions and lockdowns after more than a year since the pandemic began.  

 It has been almost one year since I took over the role of President and during the transition Shiella Fodchuk and I have spent many hours working over the phone, or in-person, masked-up, when it was permitted. She continues to provide me with support and guidance and still maintains a position of Director on our Board. I continue to be forever grateful to Shiella for her strength and for the Foundation she  built through tireless work, determination, dedication, caring for the people of Kenya, and most especially for the future of its young women. She has honoured me with the opportunity to carry on her work, both here and in Kenya. This is a journey that has led me down a much different path than I had ever anticipated and the work continues to reinforce my belief in the value of giving, caring and working alongside others to allow them to build a promising future for themselves.       

In March 2021 we welcomed a new Director, Richard Kyle Paisley, to our Board in Canada as well as to our Board in Kenya. Richard is a Vancouver lawyer and is Honorary Research Associate and Director of the Global Transboundary International Waters Governance Research Initiative at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia (UBC), in Vancouver, Canada. Previously he was the founding Executive Director of the Dr. Andrew R. Thompson Program in Natural Resources & Environmental Law at the UBC Faculty of Law. 

Richard’s knowledge and experience working internationally, and  particularly in East Africa, make him a welcome and invaluable addition to our Board. He can relate well to the struggles and hardships of the people that he encounters when working on the ground in impoverished regions.   

Last Fall Lesley Blok began the process of taking over Anne Millar’s work of communicating with sponsors and donors and supporting me in some of the day-to-day work. Lesley has also joined the Board in Kenya and will travel to Kenya with me next year to help with the selection of new students.  

Richard and Lesley will serve as Directors on our Kenyan Board along with Dr. Phil Sestak, CEO, Fr. Timon Odeny, Secretary, Fr. George Ochola, Treasurer, Shiella Fodchuk, Director, Syd Gallinger, Director, law student Felix Miruka, Director, lawyer, Jaynee Ngenge, Director and myself as the Chairwoman. 

We have not been able to hold either of our two large events: the Annual Reception or the Festive Tea, due to the COVID-19 restrictions. We look forward to the time when we will be able to re-connect in person, share news of our work with those who generously support us and also meet new people interested in finding out more about the Foundation. 

  Not including our 2020 graduates, we have 69 high school students and 41 university/college students. Since we began in 2013 we have provided a high school education for 172 students and we look forward to congratulating our first university graduates this year, a law student and a teacher. I am  thankful for the work of our Board of Directors in Canada, our Board of Directors in Kenya and our specialized volunteers here, all generous and dedicated people who are sharing their knowledge, skills and time as we work together educating girls in one of the most impoverished areas in East Africa.  

Activities in Kenya

High schools and universities in Kenya were locked down due to COVID-19 restrictions in early April of 2020 and only started to trickle back in the Fall with most institutions, both high schools and universities, fully returning by January of 2021.  

We have not heard of any Covid-19 outbreaks in our schools or communities since the lockdown has been lifted, but we understand that everyone is still following the government protocols to stay safe. In March of this year we learned that the families of our students were unable to provide a mask for each family member. They were all sharing one mask! We have since provided a supply of masks for our students and their families.

There were 14 high school graduates for the 2020 school year who wrote their final exams in March of 2021. Our helpers in Kenya are meeting with these grads in May to discuss their future goals and provide guidance on the process of applying for post-secondary programs, obtaining government subsidies and sponsorship through POEA.   

We continued working with our thirteen 2019 graduates and so far six have joined post-secondary institutions. We are still working with a few who have experienced delays in starting their post-secondary education. This group of graduates has had more than their fair share of challenges due to the Covid-19 lockdowns, as they experienced difficulty in getting acceptance letters and program information from their chosen schools, coupled with the uncertainty about on-campus learning vs remote learning. Some schools were not able to offer any form of remote learning and the students had to wait for the school to re-open, while others did offer online learning but students would need good, reliable phones and/or laptops as well as access to the internet to participate. The students whose programs offered remote learning were provided with the equipment (either a laptop or a good phone) they needed to study.   

Because of Covid, many of our university/college students who were well into their programs were ordered to return home and experienced a full shutdown of their program. Others, while sent home, were still able to participate in remote learning provided they had a good phone and/or laptop. The Foundation provided laptops or good cell phones for many of these students. The students attending schools that were shut down completely with no online options had no choice but to wait it out.  Thankfully, we did not have many students in this category.

Our nursing students were all ordered by the Kenyan Government to stay on campus and on hospital wards, as were all students who were in Faculties of Medicine across Kenya. These students did not experience the delay in learning that others did, but remained in schools that were mostly shut down. Many of their friends had left campus, so they were quite lonely. We have been worried about their exposure to Covid working on the hospital wards, but so far they have remained healthy. 

Our law student and Kenyan Board member, Felix Miruka, has been coordinating and supporting the post-secondary students since the Spring of 2020. His efforts have proven invaluable as it would be almost impossible to try to communicate with them all from here. Each student has a different program, attends a different school, has a different timetable and Covid-19 has impacted them in a variety of ways. Felix also helps the high school graduates navigate through the process of choosing a post-secondary program and of applying for entry to their chosen school. He also tries to answer their myriad questions since most do not have a family member who has any experience in education beyond primary school. We trust Felix, and our students know him and accept his advice and guidance.  

We have made contact with all of our high school students since the first lockdown occurred early last April. The students reported that they were safe at home with their families and most had no serious issues or concerns that needed our immediate action. However, the family of one of our students was suffering greatly from a lack of food due to the flooding in Lake Victoria and the impact this had on her father’s ability to fish. We provided the family with emergency funds for enough food to last them for several months until the waters had receded and her father could resume his work.  

Another student was at risk as she was living with her alcoholic mother who regularly had men come to the home to drink. This put our student at risk of drunken men being around and at risk of her contracting Covid-19. She expressed feelings of fear and hopelessness and wanting to commit suicide. We took immediate action.  We discussed the situation with her father who lives with his new family. He was  unwilling to take her in, but was grateful and supportive of our plan to place her with a family well-known to us. The family that took our student in was very willing to support her and has a daughter the same age. We had confidence that the father, an English teacher who has run our mentorship program, would support her studies and her self esteem. Our experience of this teacher in the mentorship program is that he looks for each student’s unique gifts. She remained with this family for several months until she was able to return to school this past January. She will continue to spend her school breaks with this family, until such time as she is no longer at risk at home. As a teacher, the father provided structured days that included lessons, exercise time and chores for our student and his other children. I am happy to report that our student is thriving in the embrace of this warm, loving family and has expressed her earnest gratitude for this vital change in her life. We are grateful that our student now has some experience of the routines and care provided within the context of a normal family life.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions to travel, as well as in-person learning, we were not able to offer any type of mentorship program in 2020. We expect the students will have academic challenges for the next few years as they struggle to catch up with their studies. The Grade 12 students returned to school last October and wrote their final high school exams in late March. The other grades returned in January to a compressed curriculum and the school year will end mid-July, with the 2021 school year beginning in the last week of July and finishing in April of 2022. The school year will not return to normal until 2023, barring any unforeseen further lockdowns or delays.  

The changes in the Kenyan school year will impact us when we next travel to Kenya. We always try to align our arrival to the time the students are just returning to school. We set up our interviews to take place the week after school begins so we can ensure we get students coming to our interviews who are truly the most impoverished and will be left behind without our assistance. While we were not able to travel to Kenya to select students in January/February 2021 we did take on one university student who had already begun her engineering program. She was sponsored through high school by Equity Bank, yet as her final grades were high, but not straight A’s, Equity would not continue to support her university education. This girl is a total orphan and without our assistance she would not have been able to continue with post-secondary education.  

We do have plans to accept at least one new high school student in 2021. You may recall our report from last year where we told you of our student Leah who died  only weeks away from starting university. We promised her family that we would help educate Leah’s next younger sister, Christine, when she was ready to attend high school. Christine graduated from primary school this Spring (2020 school year) and we are just waiting to hear from her family about the school to which she has been called by the Kenyan government (the government invites students to a school and then we decide if the school meets our standards and is in an area where we can provide oversight). We know that Leah would be very pleased to know her sister is following in her footsteps.  

As we cannot travel to Kenya this year, Father George, our POEK Treasurer, will bring to our attention any students he hears about who may be in need of help to go to school and we will make a decision on a case-by-case basis whether to sponsor the student. 

Our Power of Education Kenya AGM was held in March and our Annual Financial Audit, Annual NGO Report and the Kenya Revenue Agency Annual Return have all been filed on time.  

Three Hopeful stories

 Masela, Elizabeth and Grace Lilian are all training to become nurses. These three young women are like beacons, shining their light with the promise of brighter days ahead in Kenya. They remained in school and on campus when others were sent to the safety of their homes during the lockdown. The Kenyan government ordered that all students studying in medical faculties remain on campus and continue their coursework. They had to do much of their learning online for several months, and remained on campuses that were mostly deserted. All three stayed positive and dedicated to their studies and although there are still some online classes and other strict Covid-19 protocols in place, they are happy to be back in the classroom and on the hospital wards doing their practicums.

Masela joined us in 2014 from a very impoverished area of Mfangano Island where her father is a fisherman and her mother who is in very poor health does limited farm work for others. Masela achieved top grades in high school, as she was third in a school of about 1700 students, and she was accepted into a nursing program. She has always been eager to help us with the younger students, whether in our mentorship  program, or working for us when we are in Kenya selecting new students, or helping new university students find housing. She is generous both in heart and spirit. She has leadership qualities and will make a fine, caring nurse. She will graduate from her program in 2022.  

Elisabeth joined us in 2015 and is from a lakeside village heavily reliant on fishing and has no close family.  She was in the care of well-wishers when we first met her. Since joining high school Elisabeth has flourished and has worked hard to make a better life for herself. She too works for the Foundation when we are in Kenya and is a good role model for the younger students as she is loving by nature and shares her joy with everyone she meets. She started her university nursing program in 2019, is now in her second year and is enjoying the program tremendously. With her warm heart and dedication to caring for others she will be a wonderful nurse. These are Elizabeth’s words: “I feel that I am gaining some meaningful experience that will eventually help me establish my career as an oncology nurse and I am very grateful to the foundation for the chance. God Bless you.” 

 Grace Lilian joined us in 2014 from a single parent family where her mother, a subsistence farmer, had little means to provide her daughter with a high school education. Grace Lilian was another top student in high school. Two weeks after she graduated, Grace Lilian was hired by a private school to teach elementary students.  However, she was determined to be a nurse and started her university nursing program in 2018. She has enjoyed her program and her practical training has been diverse. The diverse hospitals she worked at gave her opportunities to nurse patients with different illnesses, and also work within speciality units. Grace Lilian is a quiet, very competent, caring young woman who will bring intelligence, discernment, a calm presence and kind nature to her work as a nurse. Grace Lilian will graduate in 2022 and we look forward to supporting her in achieving her goal.   

Activities in Canada

   This has been a year of major transition in the Foundation. Covid-19 restrictions have made it extremely challenging for me to take on all of the administration here in Canada and in Kenya as well as the extensive individual student oversight and care that are so important to us. Nothing has been smooth. As we were unable to travel to Kenya this year we have had to rely heavily on our helpers in Kenya. This reliance continues and means that we have to administer the program in Kenya from here. This entails a lot of telephone, email, WhatsApp and Zoom correspondence. However, we have been able to get our work done and make sure our students are not unduly inconvenienced or struggling unnecessarily. We will continue to send our sponsors and donors regular updates on what is happening both in Kenya and here in Canada as we continue to modify our work and adapt to the ever-changing situation in schools in Kenya.  

Lesley Blok and I prepared the recent sponsor/donor letters, and with the technical support of Lauren Selden they were emailed to most donors on our mailing list. We still have a few people without email addresses and those were sent by Canada Post.  While we have started emailing our letters, it does not mean that we want to lose the personal contact we have with many of our donors and sponsors and we will do everything we can to maintain these relationships. It is very important to us to connect with the people who are supporting our work, and to answer their questions or concerns. We have appreciated receiving words of support in the communication from our donors and sponsors.

In our Fall letter, we asked our sponsors to delay paying for the 2021 school year until we received information advising us when school would resume. We heard the 2020 school year would continue in January 2021 and end in July and in our next letter this past February we asked our sponsors to send their 2021 school fees by the end of March. I am pleased to report we have had a wonderfully supportive response from everyone. Receiving the fees early allows us to have the fees wired, cheque letters and cheques prepared all in good time to meet the start of the 2021 school year. We are very thankful for everyone’s generosity and understanding.  

We had a generous gift of Aeroplan points from Martha Lou Henley. This valuable gift will dramatically reduce our airfare costs when we are able to travel to Kenya. 

     This year we gratefully received a substantial donation from a very generous person in memory of a loved one, Malcolm Mayhew, who had heard of and wanted to support our work. This kind of major open-ended donation allows us to extend the work in many different ways, and it is always extremely special for us when support for our work comes in connection with someone who has died. Donations in memory of friends and family are life-giving to the girls who are educated as a result. In addition, many of our sponsors leave instructions that in the event of their death, the support for their student will continue until her education is complete. As we watch these provisions come into effect, we are always touched to know that a sponsor’s generosity lives on in this offering of a new and better life for a deserving young Kenyan woman.  

In February, Linda Robertson, a Director on our Board, left the Foundation to pursue other charitable endeavours. The Board of Directors thanks Linda for her years of dedication to the Foundation here in Canada, and for her generous support of our mentorship program in Kenya. 

Our Student Support Committee, Megan Otton, Dr. Lorna Bennett, Shiella and myself have not had a chance to meet over the past year but as we feel there may be an even greater need for this support group after Covid-19, we will continue meeting and planning as soon as it is safe to do so.

Because of the Covid disruption we have not been able to follow up on our conversation with the Kenya High Commissioner, but we will continue to seek his assistance with the matter of our Kenyan bank requiring Canadians as bank signatories to have a work permit. The permit costs $5000 CAD and would reduce the funds we would have available to support our students. We have also asked our Kenyan lawyer to help us resolve this issue.  

We are continuing to hold our Directors’ Meetings through Zoom. This has worked well.

Board of Directors: Roles and Responsibilities

Treasurer, Jennifer Owen Blacklock, has been with the Foundation for more than a year and has proven to be a valuable and much appreciated member of our Board.  She prepared our Annual Financial Statement and filed the Annual CRA Return. She  reviewed the Financial Statement for our Kenyan NGO and made suggestions for improvements. She again negotiated with the Kenyan Auditor, approved his contract, discussed best practices and reviewed his audit. She has worked with Judy Mostardi, our bookkeeper, to initiate streamlining and centralizing our Kenyan bookkeeping, accounting, reporting and auditing services. Jennifer’s knowledgable, professional presence as a CPA on our Board gives us confidence in all our financial dealings.

Syd Gallinger chairs our meetings and provides steady leadership on the Board. He guided us in putting a sound financial infrastructure in place. Three years ago he retired from his role of Treasurer but he continues to provide guidance to all of us when needed. Syd has continued to provide information to donors and sponsors, so that they are fully informed about the Foundation’s use of their financial gifts. He set up our RBC account to receive and facilitate gifts of securities. He welcomes inquiries about gifts from donors. I have a great appreciation for Syd and how freely he shares his gifts of kindness, calm, and knowledge.    

Secretary, Shaaron Fedora, prepares agendas and notices of meetings, records comprehensive minutes of our Board meetings, and prepares annual tax receipts. She has a vast knowledge of board meetings and their protocols and always ensures we stay on track.  

Lesley Blok took on the role of Director of Communications after Anne Millar stepped down this past year. Lesley is energetically learning all of the facets of the role and has prepared letters of communication to our sponsors and donors and responded to their questions and concerns. She will travel with me to Kenya next year and will partner with me on much of the work, both here and in Kenya. I look forward to our working together as we continue supporting and building POEA.   

Shiella Fodchuk is a Director and the Founder and former President of POEA. She was instrumental in building the Foundation from the ground up and gathered together an amazing group of people to help further her cause of educating the most needy girls in one of the most impoverished places in Africa. She worked tirelessly in very challenging and in often uncomfortable physical conditions and forged relationships in Kenya that continue to support us. I am endlessly grateful that she continues to support me and provide guidance whenever I need it.

 Anne Kober retired as a Director in March 2019, but remains an Honorary Member. Over six years Anne helped us to set up the Foundation as a registered charity. She provided wise legal and practical advice to the Board. She successfully guided us through the several phases of NGO registration, banking signatory protocols, and the composition of the Board of Directors in Kenya. Anne worked to protect our interests while achieving a balance of Kenyan and Canadian representation. We miss her regular presence among us and her contribution.

Anne Millar has stepped down from multiple roles as Director of Communications and of Student Records, but remains as a Director. Anne’s vast workload has been turned over to two others. Over the years she partnered with Shiella in sharing visionary responsibilities, deliberations and decisions, in almost every sphere of our operations. Throughout the year, Anne assumed the vital work of corresponding with sponsors and donors, sending out hundreds of hand written letters, photographs of our work in Kenya, student letters to sponsors, and tax receipts. She educated sponsors about our protocols, students, the Kenyan education system, and she expressed our gratitude to them. Anne updated our donor and sponsor lists, and our student and family contact information. She maintained our student records, which enabled her to know our students, their schools and home situations, the students’ schools, form, grades, admission numbers. She developed complete student profiles and all other necessary documents for us to take to Kenya. 

Megan Otton is the new Director of Student Records. She is also Chair of the Hospitality Committee and is assuming responsibility for the functions of the Hospitality Team. We are looking for someone who can take over this role as Megan would like to focus her attention on the Student Records role. Megan is highly competent and easy to work with and we are fortunate to have her in this role as she was a former English instructor at Langara College, with long experience in working with young adults. Megan is also just the right person to be on the Student Support Committee. We are tremendously grateful that Megan is willing to put her energy and diverse talents in service to the Foundation.

Dr. Phil Sestak is 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. Phil generously spent a month working with me and our students in Kenya in February of 2020. When our students were sent home from school in March of 2020 because of the pandemic, Phil wrote an information letter to guide them in keeping themselves safe and healthy. Phil’s long experience in Kenya and his cultural sensitivity are invaluable gifts he brings to the Foundation. 

Lauren Selden, our Technology Director, continues to update our website as needed. She creates the attractive email and print invitations for our Annual Reception and Festive Tea. She has worked with Anne Millar to produce the beautiful, visual update that goes out to our sponsors and donors of the work going on in Kenya in January. She has been working with Lesley to facilitate our mass email communications. She formats the Annual Report for publication, and edits Keynote presentations for our events. Lauren brings a valuable skillset to the Foundation and for that I am very appreciative.  

Dr. David Yeung, Honorary Board Member 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 as 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.

Advisors, Committee Chairs and Core Volunteers

Judy Mostardi, our bookkeeper, continues to be an essential cornerstone of the Foundation. Judy is highly competent, dedicated, steady and unflappable. She reconciles our expenditures in Canada. She is working with Jennifer and Syd in streamlining and centralizing our bookkeeping services in Kenya, for which she will provide oversight. She calculates conversion rates and keeps our financial records in two currencies. Judy drafts record-keeping forms and codes for our daily use in Kenya. Judy prepares semi-annual financial statements. She meets with the team that returns from Kenya, scrutinizing every expenditure.  

Fr. Timon Ochieng Odeny acts as Secretary on the Foundation’s Board of Directors in Kenya. As he is now studying in Austria his availability is limited. At home or abroad, Fr. Timon makes himself available to advise and consult with us about students, schools and our own practices.  

Fr. George Ochola, Rector of Ringa Parish, Homa Bay, and former Rector and Principal of St. John’s Minor Seminary, is Treasurer of the Board of Directors in Kenya. A very good administrator, Fr. George is responsible for our Kenyan expenditures when we are not in Kenya. He is engaged in budgeting, writing cheques (with other signatories), sending funds to students, and recording expenditures monthly. He will liaise with teachers and principals, and students as required as he is their point of contact when there is an issue to be resolved.

Lorna Bennett, adolescent psychologist, brings a wealth of experience in working with adolescents to the 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.  

Heather Edgar is a member of the Hospitality Committee. Heather’s open, gracious personality makes her an asset in the preparation and service of food to our guests. She also obtained the Serve it Right license.

We thank Molly Jonsson and Ginger Shaw for their ongoing contributions to the Hospitality Committee on the welcome table. Molly and Ginger welcome every guest to our Annual Reception in May and our Festive Tea in November. Nothing is more important than to recognize those who come out and support us.

We thank Shelley Stanhope and Maria Meakin for their ongoing contribution to the Hospitality Committee, and especially for their warm, quiet and friendly way with guests at our events. 

Thank you to Martha Lou Henley for her donation of delicious, home-made desserts for our Festive Teas and our Annual Receptions each year.  

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Who would have anticipated that a year later we would still be undergoing lockdowns and the worldwide threat from this vicious virus? I can only look forward and remain hopeful that the future will bring us safer days and the ability to continue our on-the-ground work in Kenya. Our students will continue to have our support from here, but the value of spending time with them in their own country, in their own villages or at their schools, is immeasurable. We have had contact with all of our students and everyone is working hard and trying to adapt to whatever comes next.  It is amazing how positive they remain despite the level of adversity they must continually surmount. A common thread coming from most of them is that having someone a world away supporting their dreams is a tremendous help to remaining positive and hopeful for the future. 

The Kenyan government has embraced the need for COVID-19 protocols and the schools have complied to keep our students safe. A very long lockdown was followed by a gradual return to school for high school and university students and we hope Kenya will be able to continue to keep the schools open.   

Our plan is to travel to Kenya again in late April of 2022 if it is permitted and safe to do so. It is hard to fathom that this is still a year away but it does give us plenty of time to plan and prepare.    

We will continue to stay in contact with all of our students and provide whatever assistance they may need to stay safe and strong and able to continue on their educational journey. They are a very proud people and don’t often complain or reach out to ask for help. 

Our helper Alice Adalla no longer works for the Foundation and we intend to find another woman to replace her when we are next in Kenya. In the interim, Father George, our helper Kevin Jaling, and our student and Board member Felix Miruka will continue to provide assistance as needed.  

I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who continues to support POEA. The work we are all doing together will forever change the students’ lives and the lives of those they love.     

 With appreciation and gratitude,

Darlene Durrad