True leadership flourishes when a community chooses to rise together. It is shaped by people who are willing to show up, mentor, listen, and inspire others to believe in their own potential. From April 25 to 28, 2026, the Strathmore University Alumni Association and the Strathmore Community Service Centre brought that spirit to life through the SU-AYA Circle of Excellence Bukembe Educational Camp in Bungoma County.

United by a shared commitment to mentorship and service, a team of 11 comprising three staff members, three students and five alumni journeyed to Bungoma as mentors, encouragers, and catalysts for hope and transformation.

What sparked this three-day engagement was a celebration of impact in action. Wema CEO and proud Strathmore alumna, Elizabeth Jumah, had recently been honoured with the 2025 Strathmore University Alumni Service to Society Award in the Community Service Category, in recognition of her exceptional commitment to community transformation and servant leadership.

But rather than applauding from a distance, the alumni network chose to step into the story itself. They packed their bags, hit the road, and travelled to Bungoma to engage directly with the lives and communities at the heart of the work.

The initiative was further strengthened by the presence of Michael Babu, Manager, Community Service Centre, a BCom Class of 2010 alumnus and recipient of the 2024 Service to Society Award in the same category. Together, they carried the spirit of the SU-AYA Circle of Excellence Mashinani, a peer support initiative designed not only to mentor, but to walk alongside communities, inspire possibility, and bring the values of service and excellence closer to the ground.

Day 1: Looking into the Mirror & The Wema Girls Cup

The camp opened at Lotus Highway School in Bukembe, where Strathmore mentors stepped into classrooms that felt strangely familiar. For Rajab Wanga, a Bachelor of Business International Studies (BIS) student, the setting brought back a wave of nostalgia.

“The theme of the day asked me to think of my younger self. To remember what I wished someone had told me then,” Rajab shared. “That reflection shaped everything I shared. My entire journey. I felt like I was speaking to a version of myself I had once been.”

The day brought together junior and senior secondary students from Lotus Highway School and neighboring schools alongside the girls from the Wema Soccer Programme. A mentorship forum covering purpose, discipline, resilience and career choices quickly broke down into smaller, intimate interactive circles.

For Joel Katiech, a class of 2016 B-Com alum, this was a refreshing opportunity. As a quiet and soft-spoken young professional, this was an opportunity to inspire the next generation, and he relished every moment. “I have never imagined myself talking in front of a class full of students,” reflected Joel, “It has been a very fulfilling experience and I will be happy to do it again.”

The energy shifted in the afternoon with a walk to Bukembe Primary School for the Wema Girls Cup soccer finals. Amos, an alum of Bukembe Primary School and a finalist of MSC Education Management at Strathmore University, was a celebrity of sorts with some mothers calling him Mwalimu. He proudly gave us a history of the school and shared some of his fond memories.

“This is great”, noted Amos, “growing up, sometimes what I needed was just a glimpse of hope. I am glad I was able to join the team today.”

Amid friendly banter and village competitiveness, the Wema Cup tournament brought together girls from at least 5 different villages. Immanuel, a BIS student at Strathmore and a certified referee, was the linesman in the football match. Michael Karani, our camp team lead and a BIS student at Strathmore, was on the volleyball pitch playing competitively with the local team. Karani plays for the SU volleyball team.

To support the girls’ dignity and well-being on and off the pitch, the Strathmore team donated sanitary towels to all the participating girls.

Day 2: Practical Skills and Roots for the Future

On the second day, the focus shifted toward sustainable futures as the team embedded itself with students from the Wema Technical Training Institute. The team was joined by Shirley Wetindi, the youngest alumnus in the group, Bachelor of Informatics and Computer Science class of 2026. She was very practical and inspired students to take action.

Recognizing that technical expertise must go hand-in-hand with personal leadership, the sessions focused on practical life skills, entrepreneurship and career readiness. Vocational students openly shared their career aspirations and the structural challenges they face, sparking rich, real-world exchanges with professionals who have walked the path before them. The sessions culminated in a tree-planting exercise in the school farm.

Day 3: The Reality of Listening & Challenging Assumptions

On the final day, the Strathmore and Wema teams visited three local public schools to explore collaborations and introduce the Teaching at the Right Level (TARL) accelerated learning programme; an evidence-based educational methodology that tailors instruction to a child’s current learning abilities rather than their age or grade.

This approach has been adopted as an accelerated pedagogy, in which Strathmore students dedicate part of their Service-Based Learning (SBL) hours in school to improving literacy and numeracy levels among learners who are left behind. Strathmore students are trained by experienced TARL facilitators and go on to implement the lessons after conducting baseline assessments, identifying learners with foundational gaps, and delivering targeted intervention through 30 hours of instruction spread across three intensive camps of 10 hours each.

While some school stakeholders welcomed the initiative with open arms and enthusiasm, others remained hesitant. It served as a stark reminder that driving systemic educational change is rarely a walk in the park; it requires deep empathy, relentless persistence and a willingness to understand perspectives entirely different from one’s own.

After Hours: Vulnerable Conversations and Unfiltered Joy

If the daytime was dedicated to intense community engagement, the nights belonged to deep, unfiltered reflection. Gathered around the dinner table, the team engaged in thought-provoking, respectful and lively conversations.

Whether arguing viewpoints back and forth, with Elijah Kefa, Director, Lotus of the Highway School and Emmanuel Chemobo, also a BIS student at Strathmore,  holding a relentless affirmative front and Faith Ondiba, from the Strathmore Alumni Relations Office, countering with an endless reservoir of knowledge, the team debated everything from social dynamics to the highly contested topic of ‘submissiveness’. What made these evening conversations beautiful was not reaching a perfect consensus, but the underlying openness to listen without the desperate need to ‘win.’

And then came the unscripted moments that truly bind people together. After a heavy downpour softened the Bungoma earth on the final day, the structured schedules were thrown out the window. The team took to the wet grass to play barefoot football.

“We slipped, fell, laughed and for a while, forgot everything else,” Rajab recalled. “It was simple, unfiltered joy, the kind that reconnects you to childhood and to each other. In those moments, the bonds were strengthened not through structured activity, but through shared experience.”

The Harvest of Seeds Planted

By the time the four days came to an end, the team’s overwhelming consensus was that it simply didn’t feel like enough time. The warmth, generosity and hospitality extended by the wider Wema family made leaving incredibly difficult.

The SUAYA Circle of Excellence Bukembe Educational Camp illustrated that impact is never a one-way street. The Strathmore team arrived ready to teach, guide and inspire, but left with a much deeper sense of humility, perspective and what it truly means to serve.

Many seeds were planted in Bukembe that weekend. As the Strathmore University Alumni Association, the Community Service Centre and Wema look ahead, the friendships, institutional collaborations and opportunities forged in the mud and classrooms of Bukembe will undoubtedly continue to grow for years to come.

After all, that is the true essence of mentorship, not merely in what we are determined to give, but also in what we are humble enough to receive.