9/27/23
Today, our guest speaker was Brett Weiss. A member of the Rotary Club of Naperville, Brett exemplifies the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self". The Weiss Scholarship Foundation’s (WSF) mission is to empower children in Kenya with the gift of education believing that a High School education and beyond is the only way to end poverty.
Background:
- A retired high school social studies teacher, Brett has five years’ experience running a social services organization and 22 years in the software business .
- In 2009, Brett made a volunteer trip to Dago, Kenya, and feeling compelled to encourage positive change in an otherwise poor village, he created the Weiss Scholarship Foundation.
- Dago is a tiny village in the far southwestern part of Kenya, not far from the border of Tanzania and Lake Victoria. The residents of Dago are all farmers, raising animals and cultivating plants to sustain their livelihood. The Village is home to around 3,000 people—virtually all of whom are among the poorest on earth with an average family income of less than $2 USD per day. They live in tiny mud huts with no electricity or plumbing. Very few residents are over 40 years old, and only a handful ever receive medical care. Food insecurity and access to safe water sources are major problems. Children also face additional challenges. Other than their school uniforms, children’s clothes largely come from charity. The government does not pay any of the costs to attend high school. For this reason, most children quit school around the fourth grade because they do not see the point in continuing an education that will not extend past primary school. Instead of attending school, they try to get a job working in the fields, making around $1 daily
Operation:
Based in Dago, WSF now has seven trained Kenyan educators in five communities working to increase the # of girls and boys completing primary school. WSF pays all expenses of their high school students. The scholarships cost $875 USD/year or $3,500 for all four years. Some achievements:
- 182 Scholarships Awarded up from 32 in 2017
- 101 students currently in high school
- 54 students have graduated high school.
- 4 students have graduated university.
- 16 students have graduated vocational school.
- 1 of the high school graduates is attending Elmhurst University in the United States
For more information and to support their mission, visit their website: https://weissscholarshipfoundation.org/
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Wheaton, IL 60189
United States of America