Julie Weche: The Story Of Kenyan Woman Running Successful Driving School, Teaching Swahili in US
By leading a center that motivates the black community, a Kenyan educator is building a name for herself in the United States of America.
In Baltimore, one of the most populated cities in the US state of Maryland, Julie Weche founded and is the proprietor of the Elimu Tutoring Center.
Over 15,000 Kenyan residents of the city who live in the black community benefit from Weche’s Swahili classes.
Before continuing her education at the University of Maryland and Alberto University in Canada, the Swahili instructor first attended Kenyatta University in Nairobi.
Prior to moving to Botswana, where she worked as the director of the University of Botswana Early Childhood Learning Center, she began her career as a high school teacher in Kenya.
Weche decided to pursue her next course of action in Baltimore since she has a strong passion for working with children and a plethora of experience.
In June 2016, as part of her expansion strategy, she established Elimu Driving School under Elimu Tutoring and Training Center.
However, after the epidemic started in 2020, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan ordered the closure of her Elimu Tutoring Center.
Hogan ordered all unnecessary businesses to shut down in order to reduce revenue.
In Baltimore, she constructed temporary hospitals and allocated millions of dollars to support small businesses.
The shutdown had a negative impact on Weche’s business, forcing her to make masks in order to survive.
“The pandemic affected us so badly. We went on a complete shutdown. We had an empty building and we did not know what to do.”
“On March 15, 2020, the government shut down all nonessential business and we were one of them. They considered us as nonessential because our services came after school tutoring. We used to pick children and tutor them and our services were hampered by the closure,” Weche stated.
At that time, her centre had also stated a community initiative that was also adversely affected by the effects of the pandemic. Weche with the support of her husband, Tom Mwaura, reached out to the Kenyan community living in Baltimore.
The community launched a fundraising drive dubbed Okoa Elimu Programme. In two weeks’ time, the community raised and surpassed the target of Ksh3.5 million ($32,000) helping the centre get back to its feet.
“I actually started selling masks but that could not sustain the centre because the lease was ending and the landlord was on the verge of kicking us out. So we reached out to members of our Kenyan community and decided to start OKOA Elimu Programme which raised $32,000 in two weeks,” she noted.
Due to restrictions and containment measures enforced by US President Joe Biden’s administration, Elimu Tutoring Center redefined its operation model and adopted online classes.
“In September 2021, when virtual learning began, one parent reached out to me and asked how can we help. She pressured me that she had to go to work and her children have to go to school. I researched online learning and embraced it,” Weche noted.
After the government allowed it to resume full operation in June 2021, the centre embarked on hosting low budget events such as weddings and fundraising for the Kenyan community-based in Baltimore.
According to Weche’s husband, Mwaura, plans are underway on registering the centre as a fully registered non profit organisation.
