Perpetual Education Fund Blesses Ugandan Sister
The Perpetual Education Fund website is at pef.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Article Highlights
- The Church’s Perpetual Education Fund helps members obtain employment and education needed to better provide for their families and serve in the Church.
- Once beneficiaries have graduated and are working, they repay the money to provide more loans for others.
“To me, my education is not the end; I feel and know that it is just the beginning.” —Suzan K. Apondi, PEF loan recipient
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Many Church members have been able to seek better employment through the Church’s Perpetual Education Fund to better provide for their families and serve in the Church.
During the priesthood session of the April 2001 general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced a “bold initiative” to help youth in developing areas around the world to gain an education through the development of the Perpetual Education Fund.
The Perpetual Education Fund provides resources to individuals to further their employment and education and is similar in concept to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund established by the Church in the mid-1800s as a way to fund early Church members’ journeys to the Salt Lake Valley.
The program is funded through contributions of Church members and others who support its mission and is a revolving resource in which money is loaned to individuals to help pay for training or education. Once they have graduated and are working, the money is repaid by the beneficiaries to provide more loans for others.
Suzan K. Apondi, a member of the Ntinda Branch, Kampala Uganda Stake, is a PEF loan recipient from Uganda.
“I am a returned missionary and a beneficiary of a PEF loan. I received a loan in 2008, immediately after returning from the South Africa Cape Town Mission. I was accepted at Makerere University in Kampala and pursued my bachelor’s degree in library and information science. I passed with an upper second class degree. The knowledge I have gained and my gratitude for the opportunity to attend this prestigious university are beyond description. All this would have been impossible without the assistance of the PEF program. I have been blessed with a good job, and I am working hard to pay off the loan so that others can benefit as well.
“To me, my education is not the end; I feel and know that it is just the beginning. This has opened doors for me, and I see better opportunities waiting as I continue to serve in the Church and work in my community. I am so grateful for modern-day revelation and for living prophets who give us hope by encouraging us to receive an education. Words cannot express the joy I felt upon finishing my degree, and I will be forever grateful. Wherever I go, I will have my education.”
