Our Students

Wereje Benson

Wereje Benson, right, addresses COBURWAS during a celebration hosted by the club to welcome the Educate! student volunteers to Kyangwali Refugee Camp.

Wereje Benson became an Educate! student in August 2006. He graduated from Kitara Secondary School in Hoima Uganda and was recently accepted to one of the top universities is East Africa, Makerere, in Kampala, Uganda.

Wereje Benson is a social entrepreneur – he consistently comes up with innovative ideas to improve the lives of the people in his community. He founded the Educate! club in Kyangwali Refugee Camp, COBURWAS. His leadership has allowed the club to grow rapidly, raise an impressive amount of money, and create a significant impact on the education of refugees in Kyangwali.

With the money raised, the club buys text books for refugees in the camp and has even paid for the school fees of several students. In September 2007, COBURWAS began work on their largest project yet, the construction of an orphanage in Kyangwali.

It is a testament to Benson’s leadership and ability to inspire others that he has been able to create an atmosphere of giving among the members of the club, many of whom are lacking school fees of their own. Many Educate! students have joined COBURWAS and the club is a means by which they can help others who do not have the same opportunity. As a result of his leadership, he was recently elected by his peers to serve on the Educate! Student Board of Directors. He studies education at Makerere.

Learn more about Benson and COBURWAS at www.peopleweaver.com/coburwas/, a site created by, Jeanne Ratzloff, an Educate! volunteer out of Boulder, Colorado.