The Newton-Nairobi Partnership Team has announced that it has designated benefactors of its revised scholarship program supporting the education of Kenyan youth. The N-NPT has designated the PCEA Presbyterian Education Centre (PEC) in Nairobi’s Soweto slum and the PCEA Kibwezi Educational Centre Polytechnic as recipients.

The Soweto PEC has provided delightful memories of smiling, happy children each time visiting Newton members encountered these small children in the humble setting of their school. Each student is provided a cooked midday meal, for most their sole daily meal. When visits first began to this ministry of Nairobi North Presbytery’s Embakasi Parish, it was a nursery and kindergarten. Finding a gratified constituency of financially-limited families taking advantage of the education offered, the decision was made to expand its age offerings. Today, expanding to an additional site, the PEC is Pre-school thru Standard 8 (Primary grade 8).

The rural Kibwezi Polytechnical is a trade school for both male and female youth as residential or day students. Begun by Kibwezi’s PCEA Bethel Church on an adjacent campus in Kibwezi Town, the school offers practical training courses in electricity, welding, motor vehicle maintenance, dressmaking & tailoring, and hairdressing & spa. Such practical education equips graduates with employable skills within their local community, not requiring they seek relocation to urban centers.

The N-NPT invites immediate designated or undesignated contributions for these two educational institutions. In mid-November, the Team will determine the total contribution it can make toward 2020 scholarship for each institution, providing the funds for the January beginning of the academic year. Subsequent contributions received through October 2020 will determine the funds to be offered for 2021. This conservative, cautionary schedule of funding will protect the Partnership from over extending its commitment for scholarship, which had required a cessation of the previous program when our nation’s depressed economy of the past decade necessitated contributors to fall back from their previous generosity while the program failed to down-size.

Contributions may be made by mailing checks payable to Newton Presbytery, memo marked either “PEC scholarships,” “Polytechnical scholarships” or “Undesignated scholarships.” The Partnership pages of the Newton Presbytery website will soon be readied to receive online contribution.