Meet Teresa, Wema's Founder 
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​This is what a public school in rural Kenya looks like. As a public school teacher, Teresa taught in this very school for over a decade. Every morning she walked into her classroom of over 100 kids seated on the dirt floor, usually without books, shoes, or room for desks. 

School is mandatory until 8th grade in Kenya, but overcrowded and under-resourced classrooms make teaching hard for even the best teachers. In 2008, the literacy rate in Bungoma, Kenya was just over 50%, and the AIDS crisis had left many children in Teresa's village of Bukembe orphaned. 

​You can read more about Teresa's story here. 
What Makes Wema Different

In 2008 Teresa and her family founded Wema, a non-profit organization with the mission to give everyone an education, including children from the poorest backgrounds. 
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Unlike many non-profits, Wema is run by local Kenyans for local Kenyans. In 2010, Teresa met Laura D'Asaro, an American college student, who was inspired by her work. She and classmate, Alex Breinin, founded a US-based non-profit to support Teresa's work in Kenya. However, Wema continues to be run and managed by local Kenyans. Today Wema provides housing, meals, and education to 550 student, many of which would otherwise have never received a quality education. Highway Academy, Wema's high school, is one of the top scoring schools in Western Kenya.
Beyond Education

​Teresa always believed that a school can uplift a whole community and wanted Wema to provide more than just education. When Wema first opened, children regularly missed school due to typhoid and other water-borne illnesses from the local stream where families collected their water. Partnering with Engineers Without Borders, Wema built a deepwater well in 2013 that now supplies clean water to Bukembe village, Wema's surrounding community of  of 5000+ people, as well as two other local public schools. The success of the well led to other projects to serve the community including:  
  • Library: Wema received funds and in-kind donations to create a 2,500-book library
  • Technology Center: When students come to Wema, most of them have never touched a computer, so Wema created a 25-computer technology center available for students and community members. 
  • Bakery: In 2020, Wema opened Stery Bakery that employs local women, provides bread for the other schools in Bungoma, and provides a sustainable source of income for Wema.
Wema students at Highway Academy continue to score extreme well on national exams, and the primary and secondary schools consistently place in the top 100 of all schools in Kenya each year. Wema students have gone on to be doctors, lawyers, and even come back to teach at the elementary and high school after graduation.