Scholarship

Provide life-changing support to children in need for just $35/month!

Having a disability should not keep a child from attending school like any other child. When you support a child’s education, you are investing in their future and the communities in which they live! Click a child’s photo below to learn more about them and what needs will be met through your scholarship!

Please note, the children in our scholarship program are impacted by a number of challenges. In addition to facing extreme poverty, they face stigma and neglect as a result of negative community views about their physical, sensory, intellectual and/or behavioral disabilities. In an effort to respect each child’s dignity and privacy, we do not share these details publicly. When you decide to support a child, you will then receive more information about their situation through private communication.

If you are interested in supporting a child with a particular disability, please email [email protected] and let us know so we can partner you with a specific child.

Scholarship Success Stories

What a Scholarship Provides

Education

book

Access to schools, teachers, materials, and learning equipment best suited to meet the child’s unique needs

Medical Care

medical

Access to medical checkups, procedures, physical/occupational therapy, medication, assistive devices, and vaccinations

Counseling

Consueling

Access to professional counselors who advise families on stigma reduction, inclusion, wellness, legal rights, abuse prevention, and referrals

Community

community

Inclusion of children with disabilities in community schools, which fosters attitudes of acceptance and enables them to join activities and make friends

Transportation

transportation

Assistance getting to schools and health facilities

Nutrition

Nutrition

Access to food support, nutritional guidance, and safe feeding training for caregivers

Career Support

job

Career counseling and supported access to higher education, vocational training, and income-generating activities

The Need

Worldwide, an estimated 98% of children with disabilities are not enrolled in school. Due to pervasive stigma about disabilities in low- and middle-income countries, many children with disabilities are hidden or abused, without access to many of the same opportunities as their peers.

Improved Education Access

Kupenda scholarships improve these outcomes by providing children with disabilities access to an education that suits their needs and other critical support services they need to thrive.

There are few schools in Kenya equipped to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities, so the best options are often special needs boarding schools. While Kupenda supports students in the existing infrastructure, Kupenda is also working with local government and community leaders to make more schools fully inclusive and eventually decrease the need for specialized boarding schools.

Supportive Homes and Communities

In tandem with our scholarship program, Kupenda utilizes family counseling and disability advocacy training programs. These activities help to reduce stigma against children with disabilities so they experience greater support and inclusion in their homes and communities. As a result, more of these children complete their education and go on to pursue advanced degrees, vocational training, or income-generating activities that equip them to reach their full potential.

Scholarship FAQs

Kupenda for the Children is an American 501(c)3, non-profit organization and all contributions are tax deductible. Our EIN is 16-1644867. You will receive a tax receipt in January for all the previous year’s contributions.

Money will go directly to the school to pay for a student’s boarding fees (if applicable), special staff (i.e., teachers, teacher assistants, occupational/physical therapists, dorm parents, cooks), and school supplies.

Kupenda’s local staff and disability advocates also provide additional services, such as counseling and referrals for care. This support is funded by Kupenda’s general budget and not scholarship funds.

After signing up to provide a scholarship, supporters will receive a full narrative about a student’s background and, thereafter, annual progress updates.

A student’s scholarship ends when they have advanced as far as possible in their education. At this point, our staff will support them to either pursue advanced degrees, vocational training, and/or income-generating resources.

You can terminate your scholarship support at any time. You are not obligated to provide a scholarship for any length of time. Simply notify our scholarship coordinator at [email protected] to terminate your account.

If the student you support dies, graduates, or permanently stops attending school, Kupenda will terminate their scholarship and you will be notified. At that time, you may end your scholarship support or choose to support another student.

Each year you will receive a progress report and a recent photo of your student. An attempt will be made to send you a report around the same time of year that you enrolled. This report will let you know how the child is progressing academically and socially and what other type(s) of support they’ve received (i.e., medical care, counseling, etc.).

It is challenging to communicate with the student you support as most students and their families do not have computers or mail service. In addition, there are many different dialects in the areas we serve.

If you have a concern about your student, you may contact our scholarship coordinator at [email protected], who will communicate with our staff on the ground in Kenya to address any needs.

  • Go to https://kupenda.org/scholarship/
  • Click on the “Log In” button at the top of the page
  • Log in with your password
  • Click on “Edit Account”
  • Click on “Update Credit Card”
  • Enter your new credit card details

 

While the nature of your support remains the same as it did under the Sponsorship Program, we believe that the title, “Scholarship Program” better reflects that we are partners with the children we support in our programs. In addition, this title also reflects that, in the communities we work in, schools are often the access point to receiving other critical support services children with disabilities need to thrive, such as medical care, counseling, transportation, nutritional support, and career support.

 

 

Kupenda is a registered 501(c)3 organization. Our EIN# is 16-1644867. Your scholarship support is tax deductible.

For more information, contact our scholarship coordinator at [email protected].

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