Leading with Passion and Resilience: Khayanga Wasike
The Story of WHISCA’s CEO and President is the Story of a Dream
WHISCA President and CEO, Khayanga Jenipher Wasike.
Khayanga Wasike always knew she was meant to return home to Kenya and help her community. Growing up in the Lugari region, Khayanga experienced first-hand the hold of poverty on life in her village.
She and her family lived in a small grass hut in their remote community. Without access to proper support, they endured a cramped home infested with parasitic fleas that attacked their arms and legs, all while struggling to feed themselves. Khayanga and her siblings would often do work for other families to get enough food for themselves.
“In the beginning, it was a little bit like a dream. Going to school was a dream”
Throughout it all, Khayanga persevered and kept attending school. Educating girls was widely seen as pointless because families would usually marry off their daughters at a young age. Khayanga’s father was planning to marry her off just the same.
But, Khayanga’s mother fought for her daughter’s right to an education. With the support of her mother, Khayanga attained the opportunity to attend secondary school, and then University where she studied to become a high school teacher. She dreamed of changing the lives of girls like her through education and empowerment.
Khayanga delivering a health presentation at a local school for disabled children.
“But every single day, through all this, I prayed I would head back home and help my community”
After teaching for some years, Khayanga found another home in Canada. She secured a sponsorship and settled in Vancouver.
These years were both rewarding and difficult for Khayanga. She worked hard and made roots in the community volunteering. While trying to sponsor her kids to come to Canada, Khayanga fell very ill.
But, she persevered. Khayanga recovered and successfully brought her kids over in 2004. She went on to complete a Master’s in Social Work from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and began to work as a social worker in Vancouver.
Yet, in her mind, the dream of returning to Kenya lived on.
Khayanga and women’s group leader at a Days for Girls Event in the extremely remote area of Turkana, Kenya.
“When I arrived, I think I had a different eye. I found that poverty that enveloped everywhere. Every home I went to, I shed tears”
Khayanga returned home after over 10 years to find her community struggling. The challenges she faced were still affecting others and, in fact, they had only worsened.
She saw herself in young women who were failing school, forced out of class because of their periods. She saw herself in families without the tools to produce food struggling to make ends meet.
So, Khayanga went to friends and community members with an idea and a dream.
From 2004 to 2008, she worked with friends to start a fundraising campaign to build a community centre in her home community. Khayanga put on dance shows with her son Cesar and daughter Mona playing drums. She and her friends also hosted dinners to raise money for the centre.
In 2008, Khayanga purchased 4.5 acres of land in the village of Musembe and founded the Lugari Community Resource Centre (LCRC). The centre would run programs and services that would relieve poverty, advance education, and develop community sustainability.
Khayanga handing out Menstrual Health Management (MHM) kits to girls at a Days for Girls event.
“Our mission was their mission.”
When WHISCA founder Gerri Graber and Khayanga met at a Vancouver conference in 2009, the next chapter of the organization began.
Khayanga took over Willing Hearts and the organization moved their focus to the Lugari region of Kenya.
Since then, WHISCA has run a range of programs that include sustainable agricultural, rural micro-enterprise, participatory education, career development, sports, health, early childhood development, environmental conservation, and youth leadership.
Khayanga currently lives in the Musembe village where she runs WHISCA and the Lugari Community Resource Centre. Her journey of passion, empowerment, and resilience speaks to the core of WHISCA and their vision of community-led change.
