Courtney Foster, 13, gets some words of encouragement from Howard Aris, the patron of her Dr. Norman Sinclair Scholarship Fund. ONLY 5.5 per cent of the 5,000 full-time students at the University of the West Indies'(UWI) Mona Campus, are on scholarships. Because of this, and in light of the vast number of students who are in need of financial assistance, the institution welcomes any additional help.
That was the message from UWI administrative assistant, Andrea Vassell, as she helped launch the 2000 Norman Sinclair Scholarship Fund at the Hilton Hotel, New Kingston, two Thursdays ago.
The fund raises $150,000 annually to finance one-year scholarships for
students of the University's medical school.
Campion College student, Courtney Foster, 13, who founded the scholarship, has already raised over $1 million in charity for various institutions and was honoured last year by UWI and PALS for contributing $600,000 through her scholarships.
The scholarship is in honour of her late uncle, Dr. Norman Sinclair, former track star of St. Mary High School and Kingston College, who died in 1996 from leukaemia. He had won a track scholarship to the United States, graduated as a medical doctor from the State University of New York and served the West Indian community in Brooklyn, New York.
Howard Aris, chairman of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) and patron of the Fund, described Courtney's work as remarkable.
"The country needs this approach. It seems we've lost the capacity to care for each other, but when you see young people like Courtney take up the challenge you realise there is hope," he said.
- Contributed
