African Leadership Academy has officially launched a partnership with KIVA.
KIVA is a nonprofit organization that connects people through lending microfinance loans. As part of this newly established partnership between KIVA and ALA, KIVA has provided laptop loans of $500 to interested first-year students.
Students who participate in the KIVA laptop loan programme will be able to pay off their $500 loan in installments over the course of their two years at ALA. ALA will provide campus work assignments so that students can earn these funds to help them pay back their low-interest loan.
Since ALA started in 2008, we have relied on donors to provide financial aid for our students and to provide student laptops for the Academy’s library. But with more coursework going digital and computers becoming more central to education throughout the world, this is not enough anymore.
ALA’s partnership with KIVA will help students purchase their own laptops, which will enable them to be able to participate fully in the world-class program offered by ALA. ALA students need computers to complete their assignments, conduct research, run their community service projects, and to run their student-run businesses that form a crucial part of the ALA curriculum.
Additionally, students that purchase their laptops with KIVA loans can take their computers with them when they go on to attend top Universities so they will not have to worry about the additional technology cost.
Why KIVA works with African Leadership Academy
KIVA works with the African Leadership Academy because we are committed to expanding high-quality education opportunities to talented students from a wide range of socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. KIVA shares ALA’s vision that lives, communities and even whole continents can be changed through education and the cultivation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders.
KIVA funding is used to help students buy laptops, setting them up for academic success and preparing them for competitive international universities and equipping them with the necessary tools to be a transformative leader in this digital age. These laptops will also help students connect with the digital resources at ALA’s Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership and further support the development of their ideas and skills.
See ALA’s partner page here
To learn more about KIVA, visit http://www.kiva.org
