For Canadian charitable status – expected spring/summer 2009
Trust Declaration of Education is Power
Formally known as the East African Education Trust
By this document the undersigned have created the East Africa Education Trust, an organization created and to be operated exclusively for charitable purposes. The Trustees are David Cuddy, outdoor educator, Larry Paul, retired minister of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and Ken Cuddy, Ontario lawyer.
1. Background
The Trustee, David Cuddy, participated in a program operated by Canada World Youth (CWY) in 2006-2007. CWY is a Canadian charitable organization founded in 1971 by Senator Jacques Hebert. The organisation partners with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) from which most of its funding is derived. The CWY program in which David Cuddy was involved was the Africa-Canada Eco-Leadership Program. This Program is part of the Canada Fund for Africa which was launched by Canada at the G8 summit in Kananaskis in 2002. The Canada Fund for Africa is part of Canada’s response to NEPAD which is the Plan developed by Africans to deal with the many problems of Africa in partnership with the G8 countries.
In the program in which David Cuddy participated teams of 18 individuals were created. All individuals were aged 17 to 29. Six individuals were from Canada, six from Kenya, and six from Tanzania. David Cuddy was paired to a young man from Kenya. The two of them lived and worked together for 6 months in Canada, Kenya, and Tanzania. The time in Africa involved living in an African home, and working in the local community.
As a result of the CWY experience, David Cuddy became aware in a very personal way of the lack of opportunity for students in East Africa to receive a post secondary education. There are few schools, few teachers, no student loans for the average student, and little or no financial support from families of
students. David Cuddy discovered that members of his team had financial difficulty in completing secondary school (grades 9 to 12 in Canada) because this education is not free as it is in Canada.
African team members who were able to overcome the financial difficulty of completing secondary school had no opportunity to obtain any further education because of cost. It became apparent that the lack of education deprived the African team members of obtaining jobs reflecting their abilities.
The stark reality of the situation motivated David Cuddy to establish the East Africa Education Trust so that some East African students could obtain the education that matched their inherent abilities.
One of the organizations in Africa that partners with CWY is KENVO, a charitable organization in Kenya involved in forest conservation for both the biodiversity of the forest and also responsible and sustainable use of the forest for the livelihoods of people in the local communities. Some members of David Cuddy’s CWY team performed volunteer work for KENVO and as a result KENVO became a contact for the operation of the East Africa Education Trust in Africa (see Operation of Trust section below).
The experience with KENVO and other similar conservation organizations from Kenya and Tanzania that partner with CWY, led to the realization that there is a great need for education in Kenya and Tanzania on the sustainable use of the environment. The equatorial regions of Earth have a high concentration of biological resources and diversity. In Kenya and Tanzania there is also a high concentration of population and poverty in these diverse equatorial regions. The result has been that people in poverty in these areas have little choice other than to unsustainably extract resources from the environment. An example is found in the Kikuyu Escarpment Forests neighboring Nairobi, Kenya. Due to high population density, high unemployment and poverty, residents of these areas view the forest as an infinite resource that can be exploited for short term benefits without realizing that such action will lead to depletion and eventual elimination of these valuable forest resources. Thus an important focus of the East Africa Education Trust will be to give preference to students enrolled in courses associated with the preservation and responsible use of the natural environment (see Operation of Trust section below).
2. Objects
To raise funds to be applied to educational costs of male and female residents of Kenya and Tanzania aged 18 to 29. Consideration will be given at a later date to expanding the countries in Africa in which the Trust will be acting.
3. Operation of Trust
(a) Qualification
In order for a student to qualify for financial assistance from the East Africa Education Trust the student must satisfy the following conditions:
1. The student is aged 18 to 29 years and a resident of Kenya or Tanzania.
2. The student participated in a Canada World Youth program and/or worked for an agency in Africa that is a partner of Canada World Youth. The student must have a favourable reference from either Canada World Youth or its partner agency. The purpose of this condition is to have a reputable and informed screening of applicants by a third party. The Trustees may adopt other means to satisfy this condition and any such other means shall only be applicable if expressed in writing as an amendment to this Trust Declaration.
3. The student must demonstrate a lack of financial resources to obtain a secondary or postsecondary education.
4. Students must contribute financially to their education costs e.g. by part time or seasonal work, fund raising activities (fundraising activities are encouraged).
5. Students must be engaged in the sustainable development of their communities and natural environment.
6. Students must promote the ideas of The East African Education Trust, CWY, and any partners of CWY through presentations and talks to their communities e.g. local schools, clubs, and other organizations.
7. Students must have a keen interest and willingness to help create educational and practical workshops that will teach specific techniques on sustainable living in balance with the natural environment.
8. The student must be attending a recognized secondary or post-secondary school in Kenya or Tanzania.
9. Preference will be given to students enrolled in courses associated with the preservation of the natural environment including but not limited to environmental education, ecological agriculture, and the responsible use of the environment.
10. Students must submit and adhere to a budget for all costs while attending school including tuition, books, accommodation, food, and transportation to school. Budgets must include the details associated with each cost and include a time frame for the costs including due dates for tuition. Preference will be given to students who can minimize accommodation, food, and transportation costs.
11. Students must inform the Trustees of any unforeseen changes in costs while attending school.
(b) Distribution of Funds
1. The Trustees shall select applicants satisfying the conditions of section 3(a), and the Trustees shall approve the designated school and courses for each applicant.
2. The Trustees shall determine the total amount to be given to each student and the allocation of this amount to the individual types of expenses.
3. The Trustees shall determine the contribution, if any, to be made by the student to all costs of the student while attending school.
4. Payments for a student shall be made periodically or on due dates in the case of tuition. The Trustees shall determine a schedule of payments for each student.
5. Payments for a student shall be made through a third party in Africa or directly to the party charging the expense, e.g., the school for tuition costs, the school bookstore, if any, for books, the residence or individual providing accommodation or food to the student etc. In this regard KENVO (a partner of Canada World Youth) has agreed to act as a third party to receive and distribute student
payments.
6. Receipts must be delivered to the Trustees for all expenses.
7. Funds must be forwarded to Africa in a secure manner through either a bank, Western Union, or other suitable means. The Trust shall pay for all costs associated with the transfer of funds to Africa including exchange costs from Canadian dollars to the currency of Kenya or Tanzania.
8. The Trustees shall consider any requests by students to amend the amounts and schedule of payments to the student based on unforeseen circumstances.
9. If for any reason a student ceases to attend the designated school prior to the completion of the course, then any refund of expenses that can be obtained shall be returned to the general funds of the Trust.
(c) Fund Raising
The Trustees shall raise funds for the purposes of the Trust by:
1. Letter, telephone call, email, and interview with targeted individuals and organizations.
2. Musical concerts.
3. Speech/talk to churches or other religious organisations, schools, service clubs, or other organisations.
4. Barbeques, potluck dinners, or other social gatherings.
Funds shall also be raised by individual selected students who contribute to their education costs by part time or seasonal work and/or their own fund raising activities. Fundraising activities are strongly encouraged since they will allow students to become more positively engaged in their communities.
(d) Trustees
1. There shall be a minimum of three Trustees, one of whom shall be David Cuddy. Trustees shall be selected by David Cuddy and if he is unable or unwilling to select the required Trustees then the other Trustees shall select the required Trustees.
2. One Trustee shall be selected by the Trustees to receive and deposit money of the Trust into an account of a chartered bank of Canada, and to write cheques or otherwise distribute money of the Trust. This Trustee shall keep proper records of such receipts and expenditures and file any information or other returns required by Canada Revenue Agency or any other relevant body.
Initially Ken Cuddy is the Trustee designated for purposes of this section and funds of the Trust are to be deposited into the lawyers trust account of Ken Cuddy at TD Canada Trust. The Trustees are to be sensitive to the requests of contributors in the handling of funds of the Trust.
3. No compensation shall be paid to Trustees.
4. Trustees shall minimize expenses of the Trust either by doing the work associated with the expenses or by utilizing the most economical means for each expense. The objective of the Trust is to try to have zero administrative costs except for the cost of transferring funds to Africa. This zero administrative costs objective shall be clearly communicated to all potential contributors to the Trust.
5. Trustees shall seek the advice and guidance of Canada World Youth and its partner agencies, other charitable organizations involved in education in Africa, and individuals with experience in education in Africa.
6. Trustees shall advertise the Trust initially through Canada World Youth and its partner agencies, and subsequently through such means as they shall determine.
7. Trustees shall disburse funds of the Trust to or for the benefit of students selected in accordance with this Trust Declaration.
8. Trustees may invest any funds of the Trust in a term deposit or guaranteed investment certificate of a bank or trust company authorized to do business in Canada. The Trust shall not own any real estate, stocks, or mutual funds.
9. In signing the bottom of this Trust Declaration each Trustee acknowledges and agrees that all money received by the Trust will be used only for the purposes outlined in this Trust Declaration and in accordance with requirements of this Trust Declaration. Any subsequent Trustee shall also give the same acknowledgement and agreement in writing prior to becoming a Trustee.
This Trust Declaration is effective as of March 1, 2008 and applies to all funds raised after that date. Amendments to this Trust Declaration shall only be made in writing signed by all Trustees and filed with Canada Revenue Agency and such other agencies as may be required.
