October 2, 2023 — Visiting Stella Maris and Elizabeth Massawe
We have partnered with the Kilimanjaro Mission of Hope and Outreach to help up get the scholarship funds to our scholars. KMHO was able to travel to Tanzania this summer and meet with the staff and students at Stella Maris Primary School. They also had the opportunity to visit with Elizabeth Massawe at St. Pamachius Secondary School. Sarah wrote a wonderful letter to Elizabeth, and we received an equally wonderful reply.
Both of our scholars, Elizabeth Massawe and Herieth Sellengia, are doing well and getting good grades. Thanks to the assistance of all of our donors, we have funded their tuition, room and board for the 2024 school year. We wish Elizabeth and Herieth the best for the upcoming academic year.
December 29, 2022 — Second Scholar Selected
On the second anniversary of Jamie's passing, we are grateful to honor his legacy by announcing the selection of our second James McGahran Memorial Foundation scholarship recipient.
Herieth Sellengia will be attending the Franciscan Girls Secondary School in the Tanga region of Tanzania starting January 2023.
June 23, 2022 — Scholarship Recipient Finishes First Term
Thanks to the financial support of Jamie's friends and family, Elizabeth Charles Massawe, the first recipient of the James McGahran Memorial Scholarship, has completed her first term at St. Pamachius Inclusive Secondary School in Moshi, Tanzania.
We received the following update:
Good day everyone!
Lots of greetings from Elizabeth. I just visited her yesterday and she is really doing good. I get some time with her class teacher and he said lots of good things about her! She did very well in her examination test too! Thank you so much for all your help!
April 22, 2022 — Our First Scholar Begins Secondary School
We are excited to announce that our first scholar, Elizabeth Charles Massawe, has started secondary school at St. Pamachius Inclusive Secondary School in Moshi, Tanzania.
We wish her the best of luck!
October 25, 2021 — First Scholarship Award Recipient Selected
The Board of Directors of the James McGahran Memorial Foundation is proud to announce that Elizabeth Charles Massawe has been selected as the first recipient of the James McGahran Memorial Scholarship.
Ms. Massawe is 16 years old. She has just completed her primary education at the Stella Maris English-Medium Primary School in Moshi, Tanzania. Elizabeth tells us that her "ambition is to become a medical doctor and help other people in my community." According to Raymond David Ndonye, the Deputy Head Teacher at Stella Maris, Elizabeth "is a bright, hardworking, kind and obedient student. She cares for the environment, loves and cares for others. Here academic performance is excellent and she likes learning."
Today is the 4-year anniversary of Jamie's summit of Kilimanjaro. We are especially grateful today that, through the generous donations we've received in Jamie's honor, we are able to help another person to start a new adventure. We look forward to participating in Ms. Massawe's journey.
April 13, 2021 — Scholarship criteria and guidelines
The foundation board and the administration of the Stella Maris English-Medium Primary School have approved the scholarship criteria and guidelines. We received this wonderful message from Teddy Chuwa, and we are excited to be able to make a meaningful impact for the first student of the school starting this July!
Jambo Matt,
Hope all is good there!
Thank you for thinking about our beautiful kids. We had a meeting today with Father, Mama Shayo and I. Every one was very happy about all this blessings to our kids! We agreed to send you 3 names in July right after they get back from June break, so you can see who you will love to help! Secondary schools start in January. I hope this will give you enough time! We will also consider all the criteria you suggested and we agreed with that. We will also stop up to visit the families to make sure this is the one need most!
March 12, 2021 — Our first progress report
We are so grateful to all of you who have made a donation in the memory of our son and brother. Thanks to your generous contributions, we are able to create a perpetual scholarship in Jamie's name that will be awarded to a new graduate of the Stella Maris English-Medium Primary School in Tanzania every 4 to 6 years and will contribute at least $1,200 each year to that student’s secondary education.
We have established the James McGahran Memorial Foundation, a non-profit corporation, to administer the scholarship. We anticipate that donations made to the foundation after February 20, 2021 will be tax deductible, pending Internal Revenue Service approval of our tax-exempt status.
The board of directors of the foundation is drafting the scholarship selection criteria and guidelines in the hope that the recipients of the scholarship will represent Jamie's kind spirit, his adventurous character, and his passion to make the world a better place. We will be working with Teddy Chuwa, the manager of the Stella Maris Lodge, as well as the Stella Maris primary school headmistress, Mama Shayo, and the Mailisita parish priest, Father Kitali, to finalize the scholarship criteria and guidelines over the next month.
Asante sana,
Matt, Amy & Sarah McGahran
Building a lasting legacy
With over 40 students graduating from the Stella Maris primary school annually, each of whom is in need of financial support to continue their secondary education, we welcome additional donations to the James McGahran Memorial Foundation so that we can help as many of these children as we can and build a lasting legacy in Jamie's honor.
