OUR BRANCHES
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusettes
University of Texas, Austin, Texas

ABOUT US
Students for Wema is a service organization located in Austin, Texas, representing the University of Texas at Austin. Its sister affliate is located in Cambridge, Massachusettes. The organization's sole purpose is the emotional and financial support of the Wema Children's Centre.
The Wema Children’s Centre was created in 2008 by two native Kenyan teachers, Teresa and Stephen Wati, to accommodate the growing number of orphans in the Bungoma region of Kenya due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and electoral violence. Since then, the orphanage has taken in nearly 200 abandoned children, and it’s adjoining school, The Highway Academy, has provided quality education to over 400 students. Today, the school ranks in the top .5% of all Kenyan schools, but some children still fall
prey to poverty.
They may turn to illegal businesses such as the rampant sex trade to support themselves, increasing the already high HIV/AIDS rate in the area.
Fortunately, we can prevent this by providing them with an education that will later enable them to find a stable job. This includes both higher education (secondary and further) or trade skills for those not going to college. Girls are better able to continue their education if they have a source of income and transferable skills.
A bakery at the Wema Children’s Centre will provide this opportunity for older girls and will empower the entire village of Bukembe. Please join us, Students for Wema in supporting the building of this sustainable microenterprise, estimated to cost $40,000 in total. Our goal is to break ground in the summer of 2015, and install our last piece of equipment by the summer of 2016. Local contractors
will be used.
