From the Chair: what’s new at CES?
About 50 of our Alumni met in June 2024 to plant trees, catch up on friendships, and learn about career skills – organized by our Alumni Executive.
I made a ten-day trip to Kenya in early June 2024, my first as Chair of CES Canada. Mostly, I wanted to learn. Is CES still meeting a need? Are we helping people build a brighter future for themselves? How can we do better?
CES Kenya members gave me their usual warm welcome. This came particularly from CES Kenya Chairman Ben Udoto, Patron Malik Khaemba, Administrative Assistant Sarah Nabongo, CESCED Principal Patricia Makori, and Alumni Chairman Juma Nyongesa. I was honoured to participate in two CES Kenya board meetings. I interviewed a dozen or so students and Alumni about how CES works, and asked for their feedback on how to do better. I joined a get-together of about 45 Alumni.
And I’m really encouraged – with the help of CES donors and the volunteer leadership of CES Canada and CES Kenya, we’re making a positive difference.
We look at CES as a barrier-remover. Kenya is full of bright, smart and ambitious young people. Some of them are held back by family poverty – their families can’t afford to send them to secondary school, or to college or university. By providing that financial support, as well as encouragement, mentorship and advice, CES removes that barrier so these people can go on to build a brighter future for themselves.
Are we still meeting a need? Yes. For example, I talked with one young woman who was from a very poor family – her father makes charcoal, her mother sells bananas. There wasn’t money for school fees. A teacher walking through the local market noticed that this girl wasn’t in school. The teacher introduced her to CES, the CES Kenya team investigated, and made a decision to support her. She finished secondary school with CES support, and is about to enter her first year of university on a partial CES scholarship.
Are we serving the people we need to serve? When I first met Malik in 2018, he said that CES exists to serve “poor, smart and ambitious” young people. The beneficiaries I’ve met all meet those criteria – and some of them have done extremely well in their careers.
How can we do better? Part of the answer lies in the Alumni Gathering on 8 June. The second part of the event was all about providing job-hunting and career skills. The Alumni team pulled together a list of presenters – people who had demonstrated success in networking, volunteering to gain experience, and other areas needed for career success in Kenya. We want to develop a program as part of our continuing education, that will help students nearing the time when they’ll enter the job market.
Other news
CES Canada welcomes two new members to our board.
Mark Fonseca brings his skills as a lawyer, and a powerful motivation to provide opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Eleanor Meyers has many years of experience in NGOs including World Vision – and we’ve come to appreciate Eleanor’s abilities to ask hard questions and provide practical wisdom on how to keep an NGO moving ahead smoothly.