Who “We” Are
weCare Initiative for Africa (weCare Africa) was founded in 2010 by Ofonime Anusionwu in fulfillment of a life-long dream of empowering people, especially children in marginalized rural sub-Saharan African communities to rise above poverty to become self-reliant. Supported by a team of professionals who share in the passion of using education as a weapon against poverty, weCare Africa seeks to ignite the dialogue on the sustainable end to poverty among young Africans at home and in the diaspora.
Our Founder
Ofonime was born on February 13, 1984 in Ekpene Ibia, a small town located in Akwa Ibom State in South-South Nigeria. Although she was raised in the state capital, Uyo, which is relatively developed, as a child she frequently accompanied her father on visits to rural communities including her parents’ hometown – as her father worked as an INEC Chief Electoral Officer overseeing state and federal elections in such communities. It was through such visits that she developed a special interest and curiosity in the stagnant development of the villages. She often wondered and inquired about why nothing seemed to change about her parents’ hometown each time they visited. Year in and year out, the schools and community clinic remained largely unequipped, the untarred roads which were plagued by massive gully erosion only seemed to become worse and most importantly the people seemed even more helpless. Unable to alleviate the sufferings and inadequacies she witnessed, Ofonime felt just as powerless as the people she wished she could help but resolved to one day be an instrument for the eradication of poverty in rural communities.
In 2010, two years after obtaining a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and eight years after she first migrated to the United States, she initiated the fulfillment of that dream and founded the weCare Initiative for Africa. Since 2010, Ofonime has awarded several educational scholarships and donated aid materials to orphanages and rural communities in Nigeria using limited personal funds. She currently works as an Environmental Engineer with D&B Engineers and Architects, P.C. in Long Island, New York.
After several visits to Nigerian villages between 2006 and 2013 and in consultation with sustainable development experts, she identified a key area through which weCare Africa would be most impactful in empowering people in impoverished rural communities to rise above and sustainably eradicate poverty. To this end, tailored educational programs including health education and special literacy programs for girls have become the central focus of weCare Africa’s mission.
The Power of “WE”
Realizing the strength in numbers, we have developed an engaging strategy that encourages individuals, groups and organizations to partner with us to achieve our mission of investing in as many children and transforming as many disadvantaged communities as possible. Hence, we have created a platform that gives interested parties the opportunity to adopt an education project and collaborate with us to achieve the set goals of such a project. We believe that the strength of our partnerships is integral to the magnitude of our impact.
To learn more about what we do click here.