Watu Wangu Foundation was founded in the year 2007 by Hellen Mbathi en Theo Koopman. Hellen was born in Kenia and was raised in the area of the town Tulia. That is how we ended up there, visiting relatives and friends. As is the case in many third world countries, there are a great many orphans in Kenya, who often lost their parents to AIDS or other diseases. Historically orphans were taken care of by relatives or others in the community, but over the past few decades there numbers have increased to such an extend, that many of these children now end up on the streets, where they often fall into crime, prostitution and addiction to drugs and alcohol. It certainly requires no argument that this leads to a hopeless existence.

From Hellen's personal background and the desire of the people of Tulia to establish a children's home for these orphans, we decided to contribute to this. Thanks to the invaluable help of our donors and the support of many others in all kinds of ways, we are able to do this through Watu Wangu Foundation.

Theo Koopman - chairman
After Theo met Hellen in the year 1999, he visited Kenya for the first time and was immediately hooked by the beauty of the country and the kindness and hospitality of the people. But he was also affected by the poverty and misery in which many of the people live. Many children, especially the orphans, often lead a hard life. This is the foundation of Theo's involvement with the children's home.

Hellen Mbathi - secretary and project leader
Hellen was born in Kenya and spent the first 25 years of her life there. Her childhood was marked by extreme poverty, a first pregnancy at a very early age and living on the streets of Nairobi for some time. With the help of some good people she then found the strength to change her life for the better. In 1989 she moved to The Netherlands. It was not until the year 2000 that she returned to Kenya and was struck by the great misery in which many orphaned children live. From her own childhood experiences and her compassion for these children as a mother came the idea to build an orphanage to give at least some of these children a chance to a better life.

Nellie Koster - treasurer
Nellie is one of the people who made Hellen feel at home in The Netherlands. She heard the stories, saw the pictures and was immediately enthousiastic about the idea of founding an orphanage in Tulia. She was eager to contribute and has done so over the years in many different ways, and today also as a member of the board.