h/t Gates of ViennaA group of African students whose college tuitions are being paid by the U.S. government yesterday received a boost of additional funds to continue their educations -- and an executive from the private contractor coordinating the program just happens to be the wife of a senior Obama administration official, WND has learned.
According to a document uncovered by officials with T-RAM, the U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor blog, during a routine search of a federal contracting database, the U.S. Agency for International Development under the current initiative has already spent nearly $2.1 million to send 16 students from the southeast African nation of Malawi to colleges in their homeland as well as in the U.S. and Kenya.
Because the final "task order" of the contract is set to expire in May -- and since USAID says it is not finished fully training the Malawian students -- the agency has granted a $650,000 "bridge" contract to the Vermont-based organization World Learning.
The single-source, one-year award will enable the students to complete their degree programs, prevent damage to the reputation of the U.S. and will help USAID to avoid tens of thousands of dollars in expenses stemming from additional airfare and other logistical costs, USAID says.
World Learning's senior vice president for international development and exchange programs is Carol Jenkins. The group on its website touts that under Jenkins' leadership, "the unit has seen revenue increase by 14 percent with continued anticipated growth."
Jenkins is the wife of Robert Jenkins, director of the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives within the agency's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.