What would your life look like if you lived to answer that question? Salesforce.com Foundation scholarship recipient Kule Wario recently returned to the company’s headquarter office to share an update on her journey answering that question and describing what the assistance from salesforce.com employees has meant in her life. In 2004, Salesforce.com Foundation hosted an international film festival for students, inviting them to share their perspectives and experiences. One film included in the festival was titled, “What If…” and was submitted by students from the St. Martin’s school for girls in Nairobi, Kenya. Its premise, “What if children in Nairobi were given an opportunity to be successful?” While no one could have known it at the time, Kule was one of the students who submitted that film and would proceed to live out the answer to that question.
Kule was born in a slum of Nairobi, and orphaned at the age of four. She was taken in by the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and educated through primary school, and then sent to St. Martin’s. St. Martin’s is a school for girls from the slum that offers a safe environment and competitive education. Kule befriended a volunteer working in the computer lab, who was the brother of a salesforce.com employee. The volunteer told his brother about St. Martin’s and about Kule, and how they desperately needed help to succeed. In turn, the salesforce.com employee requested and received a grant from the Salesforce.com Foundation to fund a program to refurbish the computer lab, and provide internet access. Through the updated lab and Internet access, students were able to expand their imaginations to life outside of their current situation and location. It helped spark the question, “What if?” With this question they were given hope for a future beyond what they ever thought possible.
Inspired by the girls and their stories, salesforce.com employees remained committed to helping the girls. In years following, the Salesforce.com Foundation also purchased new desks and classroom materials to support the educational process at St. Martin’s. Salesforce.com employees donated (and continue to donate) their own money to the Salesforce.com Foundation’s African Education Fund, which sponsors exceptional students at the school.
After Kule graduated from St. Martin’s, she received a scholarship from the Salesforce.com Foundation to attend university and law school. She’s since graduated from law school, and completed an internship in Washington, DC. She’s now on her way home to Kenya to find a job and get settled. Kule is committed to her career goal of countering human rights violations throughout Kenya. She’s still asking the question, “What if…” and answering it in all she does.
Watch an interivew with Kule during her recent visit and check out her short film, "What If."
