Our holistic five-pillar development model starts with education: empowering children with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to develop their capabilities to the maximum possible extent. Ensuring a child has access to quality education is the best way to set them up for success and break the cycle of poverty, which is why our partnerships with communities start by building or renovating schools or school rooms (including classrooms, libraries, kitchens, teachers’ accommodations, and school offices), that are then supported by other infrastructure needs key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Building new schools or school rooms (or renovating existing structures where needed) are not the only inputs into the five-pillar development model. To date, WE Charity has built or renovated 850 schools in rural Kenya. WE Charity has also built and renovated schools in other countries as well, including those locations below.
Each school room is furnished with the necessary supplies, such as desks and chairs, libraries with books, and other essential items for teachers’ offices and accommodations. Funds are also allocated to critical program needs that ensure quality services are delivered. For example, teachers must be trained and housed, students need healthy meals, and health care facilities (training and supplies) are necessary to look after the health needs of both faculty and students.
Poverty is not the result of one single cause. Therefore, our model is neither a single solution nor a handout. Instead, it incorporates five key pillars of community life: education, access to clean water, healthcare, food security and opportunity. These work in tandem to empower change and to help advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Read below to find out more about each pillar.
Education
Anchoring the WE Villages model is education–empowering people, particularly children, with the knowledge, skills and confidence to develop their capabilities to the maximum possible extent. Ensuring a child has access to quality education is the best way to set them up for success and break the cycle of poverty.
Water
Children—especially girls—can only attend school if they have access to clean water. Having safe, reliable and nearby water frees girls and women from the daily task of collecting water for their families, and prevents waterborne illnesses that make children sick and unable to go to school. We partner with communities to implement sustainable clean water solutions such as wells and hand pumps.
Children can only attend school when they and their parents are healthy. Clean water is one solution, but families also need access to health care and programs that teach disease prevention and healthy living. We work with communities to implement health initiatives such as hospitals, mobile clinics and vaccination programs.
Food Security
Children can only attend school if they are well fed. Hungry, malnourished children are at best inattentive, at worst, sick. Made possible by founding partner Nutrien, we work with communities to put in place programs that promote food security and improved agriculture, from school gardens and irrigation projects to establishing local farms. This ensures communities have better access to healthy food and food to sell, which also helps to improve economic outcomes.
Opportunity
Children can only attend school if their parents have the financial means and time to invest in their education and their basic health. We work with families, particularly women, to implement productive resources such as goats and provide relevant training such as financial literacy to generate income and savings on a sustainable basis.
