Canada-Mathare Education Trust
106-550 Cambridge Street. South
Ottawa, ON K1S 5N3
Phone: 613-695-0553
Web: http://www.cmetrust.org

Mission Statement:

CMETrust's goal is to advance education in Kenya by providing secondary school scholarships, with funds annually, to students from Mathare Valley Slum, Nairobi; and to raise awareness in Canada about education and poverty in urban Kenya. These scholarships ($600 Cdn) will cover the annual costs of secondary boarding school in Kenya, including tuition, room and board, transport, books and uniforms, and will be renewed annually based on progress reports. The ultimate goal is to provide funding for students from Mathare to complete all 4 years for high school and receive their secondary school diploma.

Description:

While primary education is “free” in Kenya, secondary school is NOT; therefore, most students living in Mathare Slum cannot afford to go to high school. Once out of school, many of these children are forced to contribute to their family’s income; very often, out of desperation and in order to survive, they become victims of early marriage, child labour, crime, prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and trafficking. Members of the Mathare community agree that the only way to stop this destructive cycle is by giving these kids a chance to go to a secondary boarding school, outside of Nairobi, in an environment more conducive to learning and away from the dangers of the slum.

Prospective scholarship recipients are students living in Mathare who have attended private, government, or non-formal primary school in the slum and who have completed Standard 8 with the minimum required score for high school in their final exams, they are selected by our Kenyan partners working there.