Council receieved a donation of Ksh. 1million and a vehicle from the late Helen Mary Margaret McGowan. The donation presented to the Council by her executrices will go a long way in supporting persons with disabilities. The Late Helen was a person with disability who was involved in promoting disability inclusion. She worked for a number of international organizations among them Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Kenya. While at WFP she did a podcast in the Understanding Disability series, Beyond Labels, outlining her experience while working/ with WFP as a person with disability.
The late Helen was registered with the Council as a person with disability on 23rd August 2016. After registration, Helen was able to enjoy the rights and privileges accorded to persons with disabilities as provided for in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2003. Among these was access to duty exemption which enabled her to import a vehicle without paying the importation duty. She used the vehicle to enhance her mobility and functioning. Through this, she was able to live an independent life and also perform her day to day activities.
In her Will dated 10th January 2020, the late Helen Mary Margaret McGowan donated her motor vehicle, assorted assistive devices and a sum of ksh, 1million to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
This generous donation demonstrates the selfless life that the late Helen lived. The life of giving and sharing. She was a true philanthropist. She had the desire to help others especially those who had similar challenges like hers. As a person with disability, she understood the challenges that persons with disabilities go through more so those with high poverty level. The act of giving is a virtue that few possess and one that all human beings need to have.
At the National Council for persons with disabilities, we take this donation with a lot of humility. We wish to assure the public that the donation will be put to the intended use as envisaged by the late Helen in her Will. That of supporting persons with disabilities.
Implementing the support from Helen
The donation we have received will go a long way in supporting our programmes and services to persons with disabilities. This support is in line with our strategy of engaging and collaborating with stakeholders and other well wishers to support the cause for disability inclusion. Over the years, the Council has collaborated with stakeholders to bridge the gap of providing services to persons with disabilities due to challenges of insufficient financial resources.
The vehicle received will go a long way in enhancing service provision to persons with disabilities. The vehicle will therefore be used to enhance service delivery to the grassroot level by providing transport to our officers and persons with disabilities seeking services at the Council.
The Cash donation will be part of the seed capital for the Education Scholarship Fund in honour of Helen Mary Margaret McGowan. The scholarship will target learners with disabilities from poor families who cannot meet the education needs of their children. This is in cognizant of the fact that education is the main vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.
This scholarship will be an addition to the other scholarships that the Council is running with partners under the education assistance programme whose aim is to ensure enrolment, retention and transition to all levels of education by students with special needs.
Other Education scholarships programmes the Council is running in collaboration with partners include:
1.Kenya Pipeline Company Scholasrhip (Inuka Scholarship)
This is a four-year full scholarship support to needy students with disabilities identified in partnership with Kenya Pipeline Company. The first cohort was enrolled in the Financial Year 2018/2019. So far, the programme is supporting 374 students with disabilities. The programme targets the best KCPE leaners with disabilities (a Male and a female) in every County for support throughout their secondary school learning.
- KCB Foundation Scholarship (KCBF)
This is a four-year full scholarship programme in partnership with KCB Bank supporting learners with disabilities through secondary school education. The first cohort was enrolled during the Financial Year 2022/2023. So far, the scholarship supports 100 students with disabilities.
The Council also runs other scholarship programmes funded through government grants. These include:
Faulu Scholarship
This scholarship supports needy children with disability identified from every county. It targets 5 learners with disability per county. First cohort was enrolled in the Financial Year 2020. Every year the Council supports 250 learners with special needs, joining form one. So far, the Council has supported 750 learners with disabilities since the inception of the scholarship.
Wezesha Scholarship
This scholarship model targets needy children transiting and those continuing with secondary school education whose parents/guardians are poor and needy persons with disabilities. So far, 282 students have benefited from this scholarship.
To this end, we pay great tribute to the late Helen for her kind gesture. We wish to call upon individuals to emulate the late Helen in supporting the course for empowering persons with disabilities through supporting the education initiatives targeting persons with disabilities. The grants from the Government are not sufficient enough to support all learners with disabilities across the Country. It is therefore incumbent upon us who are endowed with resources to support the vulnerable and marginalized members of our society.
In due course, the Council will be launching the Helen Mary Margaret McGowan Education Scholarship for learners with disabilities. We shall be giving details of the scholarship and the launch later on. We therefore wish to appeal to well-wishers to support the Scholarship. We will also be sharing with well wishers the modalities for supporting the scholarship programme.
