Refugees are amongst the most neglected members of society and many live at or near extreme-poverty. Many countries in Central and Southern Africa are war stricken, causing families to flee to neighboring (and more peaceful) countries as asylum seekers. Due to this disruption, many refugees must rely on humanitarian assistance from agencies such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and asylum countries willing to host them.

Because refugee victim families lack major funds to support themselves and their childrens’ education, many students are forced to stop their education and stay at home to help their families through work, just like Vivien at his family's small business.

The Marie-Claire Scholarship Fund aims at mitigating financial hardships faced by these refugee families, particularly in Zambia. The Scholarship Fund would offer merit and need-based high school scholarships, providing school supplies (uniforms, textbooks) and remote tutoring programs. The students will also benefit by dialoguing with their donors, which will help motivate them at school and beyond.

Donations Options:

The average annual tuition fee for a student at Zambia’s low income schools in Kwacha (Zambia’s currency) is K4000, which translates to approximately $250, while school books and uniforms cost an additional $50 per year. To put things in better perspective, here is what your donations would support:

$250 (1 student : One full year (academic year) school fees)
$50 (1 student: One full year of school supplies - textbooks and uniforms)
$500 (2 students : One full year (academic year) school fees)
$100 (2 students: One full year of school supplies - textbooks and uniforms)
Any amount (will assist in some capacity towards schools fees and/or supplies)

The Scholarship Fund’s initial target is $10,000 for which the goal is to support 25 refugee students for the 2023 academic year.

Successful fundraising will help facilitate the start of this Scholarship Fund and foster resources for refugee students in Zambia to succeed. Initial donations to this fund will function as planted seeds, that others going forward will water and tend - and will bear fruit for the refugee community of today and tomorrow.

School Information:

The Marie-Claire Scholarship Fund aims to support students at Matero Boys Secondary School - one of Zambia's top schools, and whose mission is to serve low income students. Ultimately, the intention is to expand the Scholarship Fund to more schools once enough funds are raised.

Matero Boys is a missionary school based in Lusaka (Zambia’s capital), and has a student population of about 600. Amongst those students, a consistent minority come from refugee backgrounds, and are from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (as in the case of Vivien above), Burundi and Rwanda. The Scholarship Fund has been working with (and will continue to) work with the schools’ teachers and administration to identify refugee students in need. The selection process is done based on both merit and financial need.

Scholarship Fund Motivation:

Growing up as a refugee in Zambia (Gilbert Bahati), I experienced many of the hardships that refugee students face, particularly in accessing educational resources. While my parents were able to manage under difficult circumstances to provide secondary (high school) school fees, they lacked the financial means to support me at University and so I was not able to continue with my education for 3 years. Within those years, I stayed at home and helped with my family’s small grocery shop, as I began researching other opportunities. I later competed for, and was awarded a full scholarship to pursue my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, which further created a pathway for my current graduate studies at Caltech.

My personal experience has motivated me to help others in similar circumstances, to obtain their education. Obtaining a scholarship was a tremendous opportunity, and a critical financial breakthrough for my family and me, and it is for this reason that I wish to assist current refugee students in Zambia by setting up a small-scale scholarship fund - the Marie-Claire Scholarship Fund. It is my hope that these graduates will be able to find university scholarships as I did. I will eventually work more closely with connecting them to global university admissions and scholarship resources.

Overall, my goal is to create an ongoing conduit for me as a graduate student to address social equity issues by championing education solutions, and using my spheres of influence to advocate for others who live now as I did at one time. Furthermore, I envision this scholarship fund, when successfully launched, will be a beginning for me to actively provide support to other refugee students in dire need, regardless of the community.

Thank you so much for your considerable donation and support towards this cause!

Support Refugee Student Victims in Zambia, Africa!

By Marie-Claire Scholarship Fund

Support Refugee Student Victims in Zambia, Africa!

Your donation will help pay for refugee students’ school fees + school supplies! Donate any amount, and receive personalized updates on the student your donation goes to!