Vienna Alumni in the Community: Spreading Love and Hope at Kwetu Home of Peace

Vienna Alumni in the Community: Spreading Love and Hope at Kwetu Home of Peace

On a warm February morning in Nairobi, a small group of university students will walk through the gates of Kwetu Home of Peace, a rehabilitation center that has been quietly doing its work since 1993. The home receives boys who once lived on the streets and, through care, routine, and patience, prepares them for something both fragile and radical: a return to family.

The visit is being organized by Bernice Najjuma, a former Guild President (2023/2024) and an international student from Uganda pursuing a Bachelor of Dental Surgery at the University of Nairobi. Alongside three fellow Vienna alumni and a handful of friends, Bernice has spent the weeks leading up to February 14 doing the unglamorous work that precedes most acts of service; making calls, sharing posters, asking for help.

Kwetu Home of Peace serves boys between the ages of eight and fourteen, an age bracket old enough to remember life on the street and young enough to imagine something different. The centre’s mission is not only to shelter, but to rehabilitate and eventually reunite its residents with their families. It is a long process, measured less in milestones than in small, daily victories.

The alumni team plans to arrive with foodstuffs, clothing, scholastic materials, and the kinds of items often overlooked; colouring books, games, and time. There will be play, conversation, and the careful work of presence. Because the organizers are based in the diaspora, financial contributions have become the most effective form of support, allowing the team to respond flexibly to the home’s immediate needs.

This is not Bernice’s first experience with leadership, but it may be one of its quietest expressions. There are no titles here, no podiums; only an afternoon spent listening, laughing, and reminding a group of boys that they are seen.

In this way, the work reflects something familiar to the Vienna Alumni community: the idea that legacy is not preserved through memory alone, but through action. Even across borders, the instinct to serve remains; steady, deliberate, and human.

To support the visit, donations are welcome until February 14.

Contact: +254 791 265 656

MPesa: Send to the same number

(Name should reflect: Marion Najjuma)

Every contribution helps make the visit not just a moment, but a memory worth keeping.