Fifteen years after Serena Williams handed over the keys to a remote classroom in eastern Kenya, the building still stands. According to Build African Schools, both the Matooni Serena Williams Secondary School and the Wee Serena Williams Secondary School remain open. They are no longer charity projects; they are fully integrated into Kenya’s national education system.
The legacy traces back to 2007, when Williams partnered with Hewlett-Packard and the nonprofit Build African Schools to fund the first institution in the Makueni region. The journey was rough. Kenyan newspaper The Standard reported in November 2008 that damaged roads made the trip from Nairobi treacherous. But the tennis star pushed through to address residents who welcomed her with songs and dances. "Education can produce a lot and open the doors for the kids," Williams told the crowd, aiming to solve a critical gap: rural children had nowhere to go after primary school.
She returned in February 2010 for the second school, Wee Serena Williams Secondary School. This time, HP supplied a computer laboratory, a rare luxury for a rural village. Capital FM reported that Williams personally taught students how to use the machines. The initiative wasn't just about bricks and mortar; it was about bridging the digital divide in a region where technology was scarce. The school opened with a promise to help students build futures beyond their immediate surroundings.
The handover model was the key to survival. Build African Schools, founded by Patrick O’Sullivan, constructed the permanent structures but immediately transferred management to community boards. The Kenyan Ministry of Education now oversees the curriculum and staffing. This structural shift explains why the schools haven't collapsed. They aren't dependent on annual donations for basic maintenance; they are funded through the state budget.
The organization’s current directory lists both as active projects in Kitui County. While specific recent enrollment numbers aren't publicly detailed in the source material, the integration into the state system guarantees their legal and operational continuity. This marks a rare success story in infrastructure philanthropy: buildings that outlast the donor's initial attention span.
The next step is monitoring the quality of education as the national curriculum evolves. With the schools now under state control, their performance will depend on government funding allocations and teacher recruitment in rural Kitui County. The physical legacy is secure, but the academic one remains a work in progress under the Ministry of Education's purview.