The eight-kilometre walk started at 7 o’clock in the morning at the Polytechnic main campus via Chichiri Shopping Mall, St Columba CCAP Church, Kudya, Mount Pleasant through Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and back to the college. Spicing up the walk were a variety of activities where participants had a chance to check their blood pressure.

POCAS chairperson Joseph Dongolosi said the organization launched a scholarship fund after noting that some Catholic students were on the verge of withdrawing from the college because they could not sustain themselves in terms of fees and other needs. 

“Our ultimate goal is to support the most deserving Catholic needy students. In this academic year alone, we have 31 needy Catholic students who requested for alumni support and the total sum required is K4.1 million,” said Dongolosi.

He said beneficiaries of the scholarship fund, whose main focus are tuition fees, include students who received partial loans from the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board and are struggling to square the balance.

According to Dongolosi, apart from the health walk POCAS members are also making monthly contributions towards the initiative. He said POCAS has sent pledge forms to various organizations and other well-wishers for support because on their own the alumni cannot fill the gap.

“We ask for more people to take heed of the request by POCAS to bail out our student colleagues at the Polytechnic,” he said.

Leader-at-Large of the Polytechnic Catholic Student’s Organization (CSO) Mwayi Taulo said he was happy that the Catholic alumni have taken up the challenge of helping those in need of support.

“We all hope to have a degree at the end of four or five years, so it is sad to hear that some are dropping out of school. Now, this initiative has eased our worries as our fellow students will be helped,” said Taulo.

POCAS exists to integrate the spiritual and academic skills of the Polytechnic Catholic alumni towards the development of the Catholic Church and society at large.