WEEMA International

WEEMA International began in 2011 as “Mudula Water,” with the goal of bringing clean water to 10,000 people living in Mudula, a rural town in southwestern Ethiopia. The results were this project were quite profound- hundreds of girls no longer had to spend countless hours every day collecting water many kilometers away and could focus on their schooling, women had more time working on their farms and caring for their families, and fewer people were getting sick from diarrheal disease.

After this initial water project, Dr. Elizabeth McGovern, WEEMA’s founder, was inspired by meetings with individuals from Mudula who identified other related community needs. Community leaders identified that, in addition to needing access to clean water, there were huge gaps in terms of access to quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.

In 2013, we officially changed our name from Mudula Water to WEEMA International to reflect our expanded, more holistic community-led approach. We call ourselves WEEMA because the word in a local language means wholeness and fulfillment – core values we uphold and strive for in our work and impact. WEEMA is also an acronym representing the core areas of our work: Water, Education, Empowerment, Medical Care, and Agriculture.