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.
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