My name is Wangari Cecilia Karuri. I was born in Kenya, joined the missionaries and worked in Spain, Mexico, Latin America, and in Costa Rica.
As a young child I witnessed the suffering of the orphans and destitute children in my society. I could not help noticing the problems caused by ignorance and the plight of my people. So many were orphaned through AIDS, related epidemics, and poor hygiene. These experiences bothered me a lot and I kept wondering what could be done to address the situation. This was the beginning of my dream for something better.
Their cry made a big impact in my heart, which consumed me and I developed great passion and love for the orphans and the poor. Thus after my secondary school I decided to work as a volunteer in the slums of Nairobi mostly with the orphans. I lived with desperate children most of them victims of AIDS with neither hope nor choice in life. Their suffering and cry for love, to have a future, dignity and shelter touched my heart and I felt I had to make a difference.
One thing has always been very clear to me: education is essential in the fight against poverty. It is extremely necessary for the most vulnerable in the community. I had to do something in the line of education – I decided to build a school.
I left the missionaries because I felt far away from these children and I wanted to be one with them, with one dream, to fight poverty through education. Then, I began my humble fight by supporting some of these orphaned children, sending them to other schools and paying their fees.
Through personal savings and great sacrifices over a long time I bought 5 acres of land at Kahuru Village, Naivasha, Nyandarua District, Kenya, and the work began. I had the architect draw a plan, and got government permission to build the school but then I was financially stuck.
My dream seemed like an illusion because financially, I could never be able to build a school. I began to talk with friends who supported my ideas. These very close friends formed the Karuri School Project and that was all I needed to uphold the dream. The numbers of Karuri’s friends have been growing ever since.
We began to carry out fundraising activities and soon we formed a charity trust. I have been blessed to have friends who are willing to work in whatever way they can to help the poor and vulnerable by supporting Karuri School Project.
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The Story Since
The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School delivers education for orphaned, poor and vulnerable children in the Kahuru district of Kenya.
Building the School
Read the story of how the school was built and explore our image galleries to see exactly how much work went into making Wangari’s dream a reality.
Our Finances
View our finances and the details shared with the Charity Commission.