“Connecting communities across the world”

Every year, Neema International has the privilege of hosting a group of volunteers from Mandy Stein’s Houston-based alma mater, Emery Weiner High School (EWS). This valuable partnership would not be at all possible without the hard work, commitment, and dedication of Emery’s own Ms. Amber Gaudet.

Ms. Gaudet, a math teacher at EWS, first met Mandy and learned about the work she was doing in Tanzania in the winter of 2017. Mandy was visiting the school as a guest speaker at the time, and was there to share her story about Neema International with the students of Emery High School.

Aside from the importance in the work she was doing with the organization, the one thing that stood out to Amber about what Mandy had to share with the school that day was her emphasis on making a difference. That was: no matter how small, a difference is a difference.

It was then that Amber realized how much Mandy and Neema International embodied the high school’s mission: Tikkun Olam (lit. ‘repair the world). The following summer, Amber took her very first group of students from Emery High School to the community of Uru, Tanzania to be a part of Neema International’s mission.

Amber was apart of some big moments for Mandy and Neema International. She, in fact, helped to break ground for Uru Academy in 2018.

Amber feels that the program she helped create with Neema International is one that has long-term impact. “It is substantial— something more than watering flowers at a nursing home,” she explains.

To her, it’s the longevity in the connections she has made with the teachers and students through her years volunteering with Neema International that has kept her invested in the organization.

“We are connecting different communities across the world,” is how Amber explains it. The most rewarding part of what she does, and the thing that keeps her coming back each year, is “how close to the change” she feels she is. She tells us how much she loves seeing the growth in all the kids and the organization itself.

Each year they visit, Amber brings essential supplies and items for our school and kids that she collects as donations from EWS prior to the trip. She tells us how rewarding it is to see those donations in use on ground here at Uru Academy.

It’s not solely about the kids here in Tanzania that Amber feels her program is making a lasting impact on— “you are a part of the growth in the kids you bring, and the kids you visit.” she explains. “The small things have a large impact,” she tells us, and that’s why she continues to organize the program and allow for such relationship between EWS and Neema International to continue on flourishing.

We are so, so grateful for Amber and everything she has done for Neema International! Asante sana, Amber.