KEF Community –
There is nothing more satisfying than a visit to our students.
Sponsoring students remotely as we do, we rarely get up close and personal. So, when I landed at Entebbe in Uganda this past week, I was excited and filled with anticipation to put a face to the various names of our sponsored students. I was not disappointed, and I came away more confident that our investments in Uganda are reaping rewards well beyond our expectations.
Consider this: Almost all 15 students and graduates I met with have already paid it forward by …
opening health clinics and schools in rural communities,
making reusable sanitary napkins and distributing them to teenage girls, and
buying sapling trees and planting them with community leaders in areas decimated by over-harvesting.
There are so many more projects that I could speak to—projects that have already benefited thousands of citizens from Kampala to Jinja and the remote north of Uganda.
I met with fellow Rotarians who have given countless hours of their time to help mentor our students and distribute donated laptops to graduates. Two Rotary clubs agreed to hold a periodic job fair where KEF graduates would get a chance to showcase their educational achievements, hand out their resumes, and network with business leaders.
I also met with college administrators at Kampala International University to plead our case for Jimmy Kosa, a KEF Scholar, who was admitted to their Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery programs and looking for a 40% scholarship to complement our financial support.
I was honored to participate with another KEF graduate, Kayaka Yasin, in a dedication ceremony for a maternity clinic in rural Uganda. With financial support from the Rotary Club of Ojai, this clinic, built at a cost of just $16 per square foot, will provide free maternity and health services to an underserved community when it opens in June 2024.
"Our investments in Uganda are reaping rewards well beyond our expectations." --Pradeep Kapadia
On the final day, we agreed that the 90 students and graduates deserve their own WhatsApp group to support each other through this next phase of their lives by offering advice, encouragement, and networking opportunities. If successful, we will use this forum to open WhatsApp groups in other countries.
Below are some photos from my trip. Thank you for your continued dedication to our students.
This holiday season, please give to Kapadia Education Foundation so that we can continue this critical work in 2024.
Sincerely,
Pradeep Kapadia
