Education Sector in Kenya: Eric Kimani Presents the Palmhouse Foundation

Interview with Eric Kimani, Executive Director of Palmhouse Dairies Ltd

What does the Palmhouse Foundation do in Kenya?

At the Palmhouse Foundation, our vision is to finance the secular education of needy and deserving students who are bright, but whose parents might not be able to afford to take them to good high schools. Our Foundation takes them on and takes them through high school. That way, they are guaranteed to go to a good university and from there, perhaps break the vicious cycle of poverty.

Do you work with other organizations that partner with you?

We leverage organizations. We pride ourselves on working with most of the second-tier banks who do not want to set up a foundation for education, but who are looking for a transparent and accountable organization with a governance and a framework set up. We go to a bank and ask for money to select, for example, ten students to take through high school. We make sure they go through the right processes, make sure their performances are checked, and we walk together through the four years with those students. For the bank, they fulfill their CSR goals of investing in education and at the same time, we fulfill our goals of transforming the lives of these young people. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

After the students graduate, how does the company or bank that sponsored them benefit?

Although it is not a condition of the scholarship, very often the students will come back after finishing university and work for those companies that sponsored them.

How many students have participated in this program?

At the Palmhouse Foundation, our vision is to finance the secular education of needy and deserving students who are bright, but whose parents might not be able to afford to take them to good high schools.

We started in 2003 and we went national in 2004. That means that we select students from every region in Kenya on an equal basis. We divide Kenya into ten regions and pick the number of students that we have money for. The first step is to raise the money. We go to the companies and the banks and ask how many students they can support. Last year, we had 85 students, so from each sector we could select 8 or 10. We try as much as possible to have an equal number from each region so the opportunities are spread out. Once we do that, the students go to Kenya’s 100 best schools because they have performed well. The sponsors give us the four-year funding in advance. We do not want to take on a student the first year and then not be able to have the funds the second year. Together with the bank or company that is interested, every term we meet the students, we mentor them, three times a year we check on their progress, and we ensure that they finish the four years. After graduation, the sponsors may employ them or not, but they go out as success stories. Over the last 15 years, we have been selecting 60 to 80 students per year. So far, we have educated almost 1,000 students through this system, either currently in school, in universities, or working already.

What is one of your success stories?

There are already former students funding students who are needy. We have sponsors now who are actually previous students of the program. That is the greatest success. We have three former students now contributing to the endowment fund we are trying to build. Our alumni now are enlisting to be mentors to the students in schools. 90% of our students will gain entry to a university, so we know the success is happening. They are doing well in their careers. Some of them have gone to Ivy League universities in the US or elsewhere in the world and come back and are now working for those companies that sponsored them. We have clearly seen the success come full circle and we can identify it.

Are you looking for interest from international companies that might like to sponsor?

There are many foundations doing so accessing foreign money. Equity Foundation works with MasterCard and accesses MasterCard money to do what we do. That is possible. If we had any international partners that were interested, we would take on students for them. We have not bothered to go into the international arena because we have remained local with our funding, our people, etc. But there is no reason why we cannot access Bill Gates’ money as well.

What is your medium-term perspective, three years’ time? Is there anything else you would like to achieve for the Foundation?

My biggest dream, which has been going on for almost six years now, is to raise $1 million endowment. We have already raised about $600,000 USD. In the next three years I need to raise the balance so that it eases the fundraising. It has been very successful so far. Beyond that, as I grow older, I would like to see the alumni funding the Palmhouse Foundation and continuing it to infinity so that when I ease out, others can continue to drive it. Even if Kenya was to provide free education like the US or France, there will still be other needs they can meet. My dream is to see the ability to help the needy because the needy will always be with us anywhere in the world. Once we do education in the next two decades or so, they can see what else they can do. My vision is to see the same students come back and become the Chairman, the trustees, the Director.

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