As a personal finance columnist, I receive several e-mails in reaction to what I have written. Some are requests for assistance, especially financial aid for university or would be university students. A few appear to have lost hope given their poor financial background.

Fortunately, there are still opportunities for funding education abroad and the other day Mr. Roni Madhvani sent me an e-mail to that effect.
“The Madhvani Foundation has arranged this wonderful opportunity for five underprivileged but very bright girls with the potential to be future leaders to study abroad including two at US Ivy League Universities,” he told me.

I did not bother to ask Madhvani what prompted the initiative because I had exchanged several views with him, by e-mail, regarding the very desperate cases. He always expressed concern and I was impressed by his willingness to help. His attitude confirmed one thing: if you look hard enough, you can get funding for your education.

Of course the search is not always smooth-sailing. You have to know where to, and what, look for. One of the best places to look for a scholarship is the Internet, focusing on international organisations who offer scholarships and funding independently.That is, those who do not channel their funding through the Government.

The Zawadi Africa Educational Fund and the Madhvani Foundation are examples of such organisations. The two have partnered together and are offering five University scholarships to Ugandan girls with the required A Level results grades to study abroad.

The Zawadi Africa Educational Fund is a US-based non-profit organisation that secures scholarships and covers startup costs for academically gifted but financially disadvantaged young women with strong leadership potential to enable them to pursue a College education.

The Zawadi Africa Education Fund is based on the highly successful Kennedy/Mboya Airlifts of the 1960’s, sponsored by President John F. Kennedy and Tom Mboya, who worked with Colleges and Universities in the US to bring needy African students to the U.S.. The objective was to have them then return to their countries to become the leaders of the future.

The programme was clearly successful, as evidenced by the number of leaders who have come out of this program. Prof. Wangari Mathaai, a Nobel Peace prize winner, and Mr. Barack Obama Sr., father of US Presidential hopeful, Mr. Barack Obama.

The Zawadi Africa programme has also enjoyed great success in its 6 years of existence. Today the Zawadi Africa Educational Fund has 55 girls studying at top colleges and universities around the US, including Yale University, MIT, Smith, University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, the College of Mt St Josephs and Miami University.

The Zawadi students have excelled over the years, with a 100% graduation and retention rate. Two of the scholarships, which require a minimum of 21 A-level points with ‘A‘ in both Physics and Mathematics, are for studying Computer Science, ICT or Computer Engineering sponsored by Google in South Africa. The scholarships will cover all academic costs plus travel, and most living expenses. Application deadline for these scholarships is August 15, 2008.

The other three are general scholarships to study in the US; and, require a minimum of 23 A-level points. The scholarships will cover annual travel, and tuition, room and board. Application deadline is September 1, 2008.