Mama Ada Foundation by Jim Larson
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Program on November 16th was a presentation by Jim Larson about the MAMA ADA FOUNDATION. Also present for the talk was Julie Keller, the current president of the foundation.
The daughter of Mama Ada is a parishioner of St David's Church in Minnetonka Mills ,and her mother came to the United States from Kenya to visit. Stories of the poverty in Kenya moved some church-members to start helping with donations, and two years ago the process was formalized with the establishment of a 501C3 foundation. The mission of the group is to "stimulate economic development by education and entrepreneurship". The group partners with US groups, and coordinates donations with Kenyan groups. Specifically, donations are handled by the episcopal diocese in Kenya.
Three ways that this group is helping to reduce poverty in the area: (1) high school tuition is not free in Kenya; each student has to pay about $200.00 a year for high school education, or $400..00 a year for college; (2) farmers are provided with seeds and fertilizer to grow their crops and support their family (cost about $205.00 for the first year); and mini-loans are made to enable start up of small businesses (average investment by the foundation $500.00).
Selection of the students to be funded is an issue, and rather than select young peole based on past records, need, etc,. the foundation uses a random selection basis. Getting a high school education gives that student the best chance to succeed. The area that the foundation concentrates on is the Rift Valley Province, one of seven provinces in Kenya. In the Northwest part of the country, it is the largest province in Kenya.
Email address for the group is www.mamaadafoundation.org. (Story by Tad Shaw and posting and photo by Steve Frazier)
The daughter of Mama Ada is a parishioner of St David's Church in Minnetonka Mills ,and her mother came to the United States from Kenya to visit. Stories of the poverty in Kenya moved some church-members to start helping with donations, and two years ago the process was formalized with the establishment of a 501C3 foundation. The mission of the group is to "stimulate economic development by education and entrepreneurship". The group partners with US groups, and coordinates donations with Kenyan groups. Specifically, donations are handled by the episcopal diocese in Kenya.
Three ways that this group is helping to reduce poverty in the area: (1) high school tuition is not free in Kenya; each student has to pay about $200.00 a year for high school education, or $400..00 a year for college; (2) farmers are provided with seeds and fertilizer to grow their crops and support their family (cost about $205.00 for the first year); and mini-loans are made to enable start up of small businesses (average investment by the foundation $500.00).
Selection of the students to be funded is an issue, and rather than select young peole based on past records, need, etc,. the foundation uses a random selection basis. Getting a high school education gives that student the best chance to succeed. The area that the foundation concentrates on is the Rift Valley Province, one of seven provinces in Kenya. In the Northwest part of the country, it is the largest province in Kenya.
Email address for the group is www.mamaadafoundation.org. (Story by Tad Shaw and posting and photo by Steve Frazier)