Education For All Children Blog

I was looking at the number for 2008, our first year of operation, and have to say am pretty impressed with what we have all accomplished.

• We raised $112,000 with another $67,000 in future commitments


• 162 donors helped us reach our first year goal.


• We were able to offer 42 high school scholarships and one university scholarship to bright students who otherwise would not be attending school this year.


• We held our administrative cost to 16% of dollars raised, 10% if you include the future commitments. This years administrative cost included the cost of setting up our 501 C (3) and building our web site.

We hope to be able to be able to offer another 50 scholarships this year and are off to a good start toward that goal.

Thank you all so much for making this possible.

Rod

Labels: EFAC Progress

There is an interesting article in the Economist this week about fiber optic cables being run to Kenya this summer. Currently the country is limited to satellite internet communications which is frustratingly slow. During our trip this spring I wanted to down load some Adobe software to edit our pictures. I started the download before dinner with the intention to let it run into the night. When I awoke the next morning, the download was less than half way through. Welcome to the world of 90kps. Broadband will open up communications and business opportunities just as the introduction of cell phones did a decade ago. This is a great step forward for the country and offers new opportunities to our students.

There is concern that the fiber lines will be cut by competing businesses. One idea is to hire the Maasai to guard the lines as they graze their cattle creating a new source of income the the pastoralist and a way to keep the grid working.

Labels: Technology