Blog

Friday, November 26, 2021

Whitby, Ontario, CANADA

Present:

• OKALA Jean-Tobie, President of the Foundation (face-to-face)

• OKALA Rosette, Executive Manager of the Foundation (face-to-face)

OKALA Justine, Advisor (virtual presence)

Today, Friday November 26, 2021, the 2nd General Assembly of the OKALA Foundation met at the aforementioned location. Two items were on the agenda:

• Examination of applications
• Communications and miscellaneous

A – Examination of applications

Ten (10) application files were received by the Foundation, including 03 from CAMEROON and 07 from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC. The 10 files were made up of 06 WOMEN and 04 BOYS.

After about an hour and a half of deliberation, all 10 files were considered admissible, although most were incomplete due to the disruptions of the school year in these two countries because of the Covid-19 pandemic which has considering the academic year suspended for several months.

Showing leniency and “understanding,” but also driven by the desire to help the young people in Africa, generally from underprivileged backgrounds, to achieve their dreams, the Foundation has decided to be less rigid towards applicants. Thus, all 10 files were retained, subject to additional information.

For the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, the 7 scholarship candidates are:

• Ester AKIKI KANSIME, Girl, University of Bunia, Ituri, Tel: + 243-826 499 697

• Hassan FESALE, Boy, SHALOM University, Bunia, Ituri, Tel: +243 818 604 204 (uncle) 2

• Aimée MAWAZO TAGIRABO, Girl, ISTM Bunia, Tel: +243 812 510 232

• Daniel BAIKA BULUPIY, ISC, Gombe Kinshasa, Tel: +243 818 306 566

• Joël SOMY LOHEMBE, SHALOM University, Bunia, Tel: +243 823 238 333

• Espérance BOFENDA, University of Bunia, Ituri province, Tel: +243 821 149 807/990 116 429

• Anita UPENJMUNGU VWAWEKA, ISTM, Bunia, Ituri Province, Tel: +243 823 157 956

The amounts of the various scholarships are:

$ 200 (1 scholarship); $ 360 (2 scholarships), $ 460 (2 scholarships), $ 490 (2 scholarships).

They will be handed over on Friday, December 24, 2021, in Bunia.

For CAMEROON, the scholarship candidates are:

• Armel Stéphane AMOS, African Institute of Informatics (IAI), Yaoundé, Tel: +237 691 709 344

• Chantal Danielle NGUEME LEBOGO, University of YAOUNDÉ II, Tel: +237 655 635 448/657 32 39 06/65031 93 51

• Marie-Rose MBANG ETOUNDI, University of YAOUNDÉ II / SOA, Tel: +237 655 12 23 01

The amounts of the scholarships are:

 500,000 FCFA (1 scholarship), 200,000 FCFA (1 scholarship) and 250,000 FCFA (1 scholarship).

These scholarships will be awarded on Friday December 3, 2021, in Yaoundé.

B – Communications and Miscellaneous

• The Foundation took this opportunity to thank the generous donors who supported its activities and thus enabled young Africans to continue their university studies. These are mainly:

o Jeffrey BROWN

o Gina CAMERON

o Magdalena LAFONTANT

o Sinqobile NDLOVU

o Tinashe Coleen H.

Their contributions will make the difference, the OKALA Foundation will never forget them.

• The Foundation has decided to meet once a year from now on, at the end of November each year.

• Aware of the difficulties faced by students in Africa, with elastic school years, the Foundation has decided to lower the pass rate from 75% to 65%. With exceptions for certain cases.

• In order to improve communication and for better monitoring of scholarship recipients, the Foundation recommends that all scholarship recipients have an email address. Applications sent from internet cafes will no longer be accepted. They do not provide the Foundation with the possibility of contacting applicants if additional information is required. Each candidate is therefore invited to create their own email address.

• Note: The Foundation is ready to help applicants who wish to create e-mail addresses. To do this, they can contact Rosette OKALA (+1 416 887 7670) or Jean-Tobie OKALA (+237 670 47 87 58 in Cameroon or +243 81 890 7868 (in Congo).

• TO ALL, the OKALA Foundation wishes a successful school year 2021 – 2022.

This General Assembly lasted from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.