Note to potential applicants: Applications for the year 2010 open on 1st January, 2010 and will close once 50 applications have been received. We will post this on our website.
Aim of grants
Eligibility criteria
How to apply
Important dates
Follow up
Aim of grants
The aim of grants is to cover some core costs of education, including course fees and textbooks. The grant should not be used for any other purpose.
In your application, we will ask for you to nominate the amount of money you wish to receive. Please note that we may be unable to give you the entire sum you request, depending on the amount of funds we are able to raise for the year. We will be unable to provide any additional funds to that which you have requested in your initial application.
The number of grants given out will depend on the amount of funds we are able to raise through donations, however we currently aim to provide 3 grants.
Eligibility criteria:
1. You must be a resident of Kenya or a neighbouring country and a member of a disadvantaged group ie would be unable to study this course without financial assistance.
2. You have applied for, or are currently enrolled in, a training programme in a health related field coming from one of nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, public health, pharmacy, speech therapy, dietetics, or other. Applicants who fit into the category of 'other' will be considered eligible at the discretion of the board.
3. You agree to spend funds on core costs of your education, such as course fees or text books.
4. You pledge to spend a minimum of two years working in Kenya, or another developing nation, in the profession in which you are currently training, upon graduation from your course. If you choose to leave and move to a wealthier country you must pledge to contribute back to the Association financially or by other means.
5. You must submit all documentation by the due date, which will be June 30th of each year.
6. You must be one of the first 50 applicants for a grant in the period January 1st to June 30th to be eligible. (Preference for grants are given to applicants training locally, not overseas training.)
7. You must agree to certain personal information about your subsequent training, including photographs, to be posted on this website, for the benefit of our members.
How to apply
1. Fill out form provided on this website. Click here for form. Please include names and contacts of three referees. If you have difficulty accessing the form email us at mail@buildingbridgesabroad.com and we will email you a copy. The form ideally will be returned to us by email but can also be returned to us by post at Mikono Association Inc, PO Box 990, Innaloo Western Australia 6918. If posting your application, beware that it will take a few weeks to reach us, by which time our quota of 50 applicants may have been reached. PLEASE NOTE: our email will take only a maximum of 10 MB of attachments. Please divide your attached documents between two separate emails if you are sending more than 10 MB.
2. Submit 300-500 word report about your background, your local area of need, information regarding training program you are applying for, reasons for requiring financial assistance, what you are hoping to achieve with these funds and where you are planning to work in the future. We will require supporting documentation (see the application form for more details). The more supporting documentation you provide, the more likely you are to win a scholarship.
Important dates
Grant applications for 2010 open on January 1st, 2010 and close once 50 applications have been received.
If you would like to receive regular updates by email regarding our progress, please join our mailing list.
Successful applicants are chosen at our Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held in the first week of July of each year. The factors we will consider when assessing your application include:
* How essential the grant appears to be for the commencement or continuation of education to occur
* the level of dedication to education demonstrated, particularly past involvement in extra curricular activities;
* demonstration that after training work will continue in the country of need;
* leadership skills;
* ability to work with others;
* any other favourable information provided by the applicant.
If successful, you will be notifed within one week of the AGM. In this case, we will organise the transfer of funds to your training institution within one month.
Follow up
Benefactors of grants need to submit a report of how they used their funds and how the grant assisted them in their training (will be posted on website).