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Our vision is to break the vicious cycle of poverty in Africa.
We aim to educate Africans, by Africans, for Africans.
Our method is to establish the Orthodox University of Africa.
By establishing the Orthodox University of Africa, we can assist Africans, to teach other Africans, how to educate all Africans, in appropriate ways, to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
We already have our Orthodox Teachers College. But to teach all appropriate ways to break the vicious cycle of poverty, we need to expand the Teachers College into a full Tertiary College. Once the College is successfully established, we can expand it into a University.
While we need to expand our programs further, we must still keep fees at an affordable rate. In this way the Church may assist many young Africans to break the vicious cycle of poverty which currently afflicts so many youths.
We are now preparing for the establishment of a Business Studies / Information Technology Department, offering two nationally recognised programs:
- Diploma in Business Administration and
- Diploma in Information Technology.
By the beginning of 2006 the College will possess two academic departments:
- Department of Education, and
- Department of Business Studies / Information Technology
We will no longer be only a teachers college. We will have expanded beyond only teaching education. We will be a full tertiary college. So we are changing the name of the college to Saint Clement of Alexandria Orthodox College of Africa.
Currently there is no Paediatric School of Medicine in Kenya. Serious discussions are currently underway with the University of Thessalonica towards the creation of a Paediatric Medical School within our College.
This will lead to our expansion beyond a tertiary college and into a university.
So our vision, is the establishment of the Orthodox University of Africa.
Most of the Orthodox in Kenya and indeed in Sub Sahara Africa are not educated. Unlike the Roman Catholics, our Orthodox people are not able to support themselves, let alone support the Church, its priests, and its projects. We rely on donations from overseas to maintain our projects and missionary activities. The establishment of an Orthodox University will lead to a better educated young Orthodox population in Kenya. In turn they will be able to obtain professional employment and hence assist the Church locally.
The cost of education, and in particular tertiary education, is very expensive in Kenya. Only the very brilliant who gain government scholarships, or the rich, can afford the costs of university level education. For example, the cost of pursuing a program at a diploma level in early childhood education (Diploma in Early Childhood Education), at Nairobi University, is about ten times the cost at our Orthodox Teachers College.
It is imperative for a developing nation, such as Kenya, to produce as many educated citizens as possible. Consequently the Saint Clement of Alexandria Philanthropic Education Centre sees its central mission to establish an Orthodox University. We will offer excellent education, yet at the most affordable price, which will allow the economically depressed young to break the cycle of poverty, and enter into the professions. In this sense the Orthodox Church is participating in the process of nation building and development.
Massive youth unemployment is one of the characteristics of developing nations such as Kenya. We provide affordable tertiary education at our Teachers College. We provide free education at our Computer School. By doing this, we are empowering Orthodox youth with valuable skills, giving them an advantage in the job market. This represents one of our most basic missionary principles – charity for empowerment, rather than for dependency. We have a large Orthodox School system. For the most part, it is managed and staffed by non-Orthodox. The creation of the Orthodox Teachers College means that in the near future, it will be possible for our graduates to staff, and later administer, the early childhood and junior primary school sections, of our school system in Kenya. As Saint Cosmas the Aetolian reminded the Orthodox, during the period of Turkish occupation, “It is better to build a school than even a church. Because the school will provide members for the Church."
Our vision works towards overcoming the vicious cycle of poverty, so prevalent in these former colonial countries.
Our vision is education.
To achieve our vision, we need assistance to meet our needs.
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