Our Mission

CMETrust's goal is to advance education in Kenya by providing secondary school scholarships, with funds annually, to students from Mathare Valley Slum, Nairobi; and to raise awareness in Canada about education and poverty in urban Kenya. These scholarships ($1500 Cdn) will cover the annual costs of secondary boarding school in Kenya, including tuition, room and board, transport, books and uniforms, and will be renewed annually based on progress reports. The ultimate goal is to provide funding for students from Mathare to complete all 4 years for high school and receive their secondary school diploma.

CMETrust also provides support to graduates who achieve high enough marks on their school leaving exams to obtain direct entry to a university in Kenya, helping them to pursue post-secondary studies. All of our secondary school graduates are also able to participate in a three-month computer literacy training course at a partner institute in Nairobi. Our Alumni have formed an active alumni association to give back to their community and act as role models for younger students. 

About CANADA-MATHARE EDUCATION TRUST (CMETrust)

While primary education is “free” in Kenya, secondary school is NOT; therefore, most students living in Mathare Slum cannot afford to go to high school. Once out of school, many of these children are forced to contribute to their family’s income; very often, out of desperation and in order to survive, they become victims of early marriage, child labour, crime, prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and trafficking. Members of the Mathare community agree that the only way to stop this destructive cycle is by giving these kids a chance to go to a secondary boarding school, outside of Nairobi, in an environment more conducive to learning and away from the dangers of the slum.

Prospective scholarship recipients are students living in Mathare who have attended private, government, or non-formal primary school in the slum and who have completed Standard 8 with the minimum required score for high school in their final exams, they are selected by our Kenyan partners working there. In addition to four years of secondary schooling, CMETrust offers school break programs three times a year while scholars are back in Mathare on their holidays. This provides an opportunity for personal and professional development, outside of what they have access to in school. 

Our scholars are committed to giving back to the community. Our graduates have gone on to further studies, to work, to volunteer with and lead other community associations in Mathare, and to support those around them.