About
Wema, meaning “goodness” in Swahili, is a community-based organization founded in 2008 in Bukembe Village, Bungoma, Western Kenya. Located in an area with among the highest poverty and HIV/AIDS rates in Kenya, native Kenyans Teresa Wati and Stephen Juma formed Wema Children’s Centre to give poor and orphaned children a home and high quality education. Today at Wema, 540 children are provided with a loving home, three nutritious meals a day, and most importantly, an education at one of the highest performing primary and secondary schools in Kenya.
History
The partnership between student volunteers in the United States and those at Wema Children’s Centre began in 2010. That summer, Laura D’Asaro, a student at Harvard College, met executive directors Teresa Wati and Stephen Juma and promised to help them support a growing number of orphaned and impoverished youth in their community. Five American students volunteered at Wema in January 2011, and after returning to the U.S. formed the nonprofit Wema Children Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) organization, to empower communities impacted by poverty, disease, and political unrest in Eastern Africa. Since this initial trip, over 60 students from more than 10 universities in the U.S. have volunteered at Wema through organized service trips.
Achievements
In the past nine years, students volunteering for Wema Children’s Centre have made significant progress in strengthening the organization.  
  • Built a secondary school, ensuring that 100% of graduates matriculate to tertiary school programs.
  • Raised $60,000 to build a deepwater well, providing clean water to Wema and the neighboring community of 5,000 people. 
  • Built a girls' dormitory with Circle of Women so that female students had a safe place to stay
  • Received funds and in-kind donations to create a 2,000-book library, 25-computer technology center, and small, fully stocked medical office.  
  • Partnered with The School Fund, a 501(c)(3) fundraising platform, to provide over 72 full scholarships a year for students at Wema. Furthermore, volunteers have raised additional funds to purchase food as well as pay students’ school fees.  
  • Through the technology center, students are taught how to use the Microsoft Office suite and the Internet through computer lessons. 
  • Pen pal programs with several American schools have allowed students to communicate with peers while sharing and learning about fellow students’ lives halfway around the world.
  • Worked with Huru to provide reusable sanitary napkin kits for girls to keep them in school no matter the time of the month. 
  • Began working on a bakery that will employ local women and provide 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.