Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> Kayal Student’s Welfare Association (KSWA) was created in January 1998 in the Holy Islamic month of Ramadhan. It all started with a jovial gathering of friends during a weekend in the midst of the concrete jungle of Hong Kong. When they were joking and chatting with each other, the subject somehow turned into a serious discussion which went along the lines of ...

Why don’t we pay attention to the students in Kayalpatnam who are brilliant but could not afford higher studies due to the weak economic status of their families? What could we, the young generation of Kayal community in Hong Kong, do to uplift them? We are spending HK$50 easily on leisure, why not spend the same amount every month for the betterment of needy student community in Kayalpatnam?

This led to the formation of the Association

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)>The main aim of KSWA is to help Kayalpatnam Muslim students, studying in Kayalpatnam, whose family cannot afford to provide education after schooling to join a professional course (and who have obtained admission to these courses on the basis of merit)

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)>101 members as of September 2008

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)>The main source of funds is the membership fee, which is HK$50 per month per member and HK$100 per month per member during the two Eid festival months. This works out to HK$700 per annum per member. Occasional donations from well-wishers also add to its funds. Repayments (without interest) from past students sponsored by KSWA (who had settled in good jobs) also help us for the ongoing sponsorships

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)>The Association consists of 19 Executive Committee Members, who share the responsibilities ranging from subscription collection, students contact, schools contact, accounts maintenance, correspondence, filing and public relations

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> KSWA Executive Committee meets once every month. All members’ meetings are held once every year with an additional all members’ picnic also once or twice per year

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> KSWA’s aim is to fully sponsor a student, relieving the family of all financial hassles. Therefore KSWA’s funds must be concentrated on a particular aspect, which are the professional courses. The sponsorship of KSWA for each student consists of the full course fee, including tuition, examination, hostel and mess fees throughout the duration of the course.

Moreover the following points can be considered as reasons for focusing our attention to professional courses only:

i. Opportunity to do community service in Kayalpatnam.
ii. Higher possibility to get better jobs than normal degree courses.
iii. By virtue of their good jobs, the students can take care of their own whole family.
iv. The students can then sponsor their own family members for their studies.
v. Good status in community

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> Till date, KSWA has successfully sponsored fourteen students (one M.E., ten B.E, one B.Arch, one B.D.S and one B.Pharm). Currently, KSWA is sponsoring five B.E. students. The cumulative total amount of scholarships to date is in excess of Rs.32 lakhs. Masha-Allah.

In our last executive meeting held in August 2008, we have decided to support our Kayalpatnam Medical Trust, by part-sponsoring a considerable amount to a female M.B.B.S. student chosen by them. KMT has signed a formal contract with this student to serve the hospital for certain period of years in the future after completion of her studies.

KSWA has also decided to part-sponsor another male M.B.B.S. student who is pursuing his 5th year studies now

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> Most of the past students have settled in good jobs in India and abroad. They have completely repaid or are in the process of repaying the amount spent for their education. Normally the past students are expected to pay 30% of their salary every month. The rate of repayment to KSWA depends on each individual student’s family financial situation. Obviously the repayment scheme is totally interest-free.

We also have our representative in Kayalpatnam to monitor the students’ repayment and also to know the status of the past students. When our Executive Committee members visit Kayalpatnam on holidays, they visit the past students’ home to enquire their well-being. This has been our regular practice.

With the help of a local centre in Kayalpatnam, it is easy for the students to pay the money and get receipts locally within Kayalpatnam. The money repaid by the past students is being efficiently utilized to pay for the new students. The accounts are maintained up-to-date at the local centre in Kayalpatnam, which is managed by the KSWA accounts team from Hong Kong.

So far, the scheme has been quite successful, Alhamdhu-lillah

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> KSWA is doing its part to satisfy this huge demand by sponsoring students for professional courses who had got seats by merit (but of course, within its financial capability). KSWA adopts its students by paying 100% of the course fees and other expenses. Therefore, the students sponsored by KSWA do not have the need to approach any other source for help

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> KSWA receives letters asking for help not related to professional education, like financial assistance for healthcare etc. Such letters are normally forwarded to other Kayal Associations elsewhere. KSWA will continue to forward these letters to all Kayal Associations. KSWA will also copy such requests to the newly formed Kayalpatnam United Forum in Hong Kong to deal with requests not related to professional education.

As we mentioned earlier, we do full 100% sponsorships to our students. So we believe there will be no duplication of funds in our students’ cases. As we stated above, we have our representative in Kayalpatnam to deal with such cases and to ensure avoidance of funds duplication

Kayal Student's Welfare Association (KSWA)> KSWA is proud to complete 10 years of service for the benefit of the needy Kayalpatnam student community this year (2008) and is looking forward to a fruitful future for several years to come. Insha-Allah.

At this occasion, we have plans to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our services by publishing a small booklet at a stage function to be organized in Hong Kong very soon. The details of the function will be announced shortly, Insha-Allah.

The membership numbers are growing with the coming of new young members to Hong Kong. The Executive Committee is continually being renewed with younger and dynamic members with new ideas for the future.

One of the main future plans is to nurture the students into joining Indian Civil Services (IAS, IPS, IFS etc), which is not yet achieved by any native of Kayalpatnam till date.

Another future plan is to sponsor students for medical courses and to adapt them for the service of Kayalpatnam community. Until now, KSWA is helping only male students since it wants its students to go for employment, so that they can return the amount borrowed from KSWA, which will be used to create more professionals. KSWA is ready to sponsor financially needy female students for M.B.B.S and other medical studies like Bachelor’s degrees in Dental Surgery (B.D.S), Physiotherapy (B.P.T), Occupational Therapy (B.O.T) and B.Sc. Nursing courses - if they can get the seat by merit.

KSWA hopes to achieve this and more in the future, Insha-Allah