Scholarships
THE PROBLEM
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of exclusion from school in the world.
- Over a fifth of children between the ages of 6-11 are out of school, followed by a third of youth between the ages of 12-14.
- According to UNESCO Institute of Statistics data, almost 60% of youth between the ages of 15-17 are not in school.
In the countries we operate in, this is often because school is not free. Families who earn the equivalent of $40 per month cannot afford the tuition fees, uniform costs and need for books for one of their children, let alone all of them.
Girls are almost always the first to miss out and UNESCO's data shows that 9 million girls of primary-school age will never get the chance to learn to read or write in sub-Saharan Africa.
OUR solution
Our scholarships are provided to the children of wildlife conservation workers, who would otherwise never afford their childrens' education. Scholarships are determined by the tenure of the worker in their job, among other factors. Many of the workers we support send four or more children to school, from elementary through to university, with our help.
Our scholarship program has been running since 2009. In that time, we've made it possible for more than 900 children across five African countries to go to school.
# of scholarships given
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Our scholarship program allows them to attend the best school in their area and there are eleven criteria that help us calculate the amount they receive. Kids can earn bonuses for consistently great grades and taking part in extra-curricular conservation activities.
We work directly with the sanctuaries or local authorities to distribute the funds directly to the schools.
We currently support the children of workers at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Kenya), Limbe Wildlife Center (Cameroon), Ape Action Africa (Cameroon), Sanaga Yong (Cameroon), Chimp Eden (South Africa) and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Uganda).
Read some of our success stories: