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“Africa … missions.” Those were the words Tess Emanuel typed into her computer’s search bar one summer afternoon, not knowing exactly what she was looking for—only that she wanted something more. That simple search would set in motion a journey that would take Tess halfway across the world and change her life.
“I’ve always been curious about Africa,” Tess says. “It felt like this huge mystery—something people talked about but didn’t really understand.”
That curiosity, paired with a love of working with children and a desire to help others, pushed her to apply to Better Me, a volunteer program working with children in Kenya. She filled out the paperwork, submitting the application before telling her parents. A few days later, an email arrived: she had been accepted.
At just sixteen years old, she boarded a plane alone and flew halfway across the world. What began as a simple search would soon become three weeks in Kisumu, Kenya—teaching children, confronting fear and uncertainty, deepening her faith, and discovering that sometimes listening to your curiosity is the bravest decision of all.
Tess, now 18 and a senior in McLean, Virginia, is deeply involved in her community—teaching Sunday school, coaching basketball, playing field hockey, and celebrating a recent state championship win. She and her family—father Mike, mother Evangeline and brother Savas—are active members of St. George Church in Bethesda, Maryland, where she has learned the importance of helping others through the teachings of Christ.
Social by nature and endlessly curious, Tess loves writing, baking, listening to music, dancing and meeting new people. “I like to put myself out there and try new things.” It was this curiosity that set her on an extraordinary path.
Breaking the news of her acceptance into Better Me to her parents was daunting. Despite initial concern and questions from family and friends who wondered why she couldn’t volunteer closer to home, her parents ultimately supported—and defended—her decision. In fact, they had always encouraged her to pursue her passions while making a “positive difference in the lives of others.” They recognized her determination, trusted her instincts and knew this would be an incredible and life-changing experience.
Still, nothing fully prepares a teenager for leaving home alone for the first time. The fear didn’t hit her until the moment her mother dropped her off at JFK Airport in New York. Standing at the security gate, the weight of what she was doing finally settled in. She was sixteen, alone, and heading somewhere completely unfamiliar, thinking, “Can I really do this?” But when she landed in Kisumu, Kenya, and met the people she would live and work alongside, that fear transformed into purpose.
Tess spent three weeks volunteering through Better Me. The program provided structure and safety, with local staff serving as guardians, cooks, and mentors. She was the only volunteer under age 18 and the only American; the other volunteers came from across Europe and beyond. Despite the differences, she never felt out of place. In fact, even though she was the youngest volunteer, she says, “I was always the first to speak up. I wasn’t afraid of anything. Actually, it was such an education for me.”
“When you are surrounded by people just like you, you don’t have the opportunity to grow. Being with people who weren’t from my town, who didn’t look like me or act like me, that was an education,” Tess says.
Tess described her days as full and demanding. Several times a week, she taught at a children’s remand home, a correctional facility housing boys and girls as young as six up to age 18. Many were there not because of violence, but because poverty had left them with no options. She taught English and life skills, creating lesson plans on her own for students of vastly different ages and abilities.
Afternoons were spent at a nearby school, many of whose students were orphans. She helped teach swimming lessons, led art and English classes, and spent countless hours simply being present by reading, playing soccer and listening. Faith was woven into daily life. The children prayed and sang every day, their voices filling the air. Hearing familiar prayers spoken in a place so far from home deepened Tess’s own connection to her faith.
Evenings were quieter and more difficult. Homesickness crept in during those still moments. She missed her family, questioned whether she was doing enough, and struggled with guilt knowing she would soon return to a comfortable life while the children she cared for could not. Prayer, messages from home, and the support of fellow volunteers helped her through.
“The volunteers that I was surrounded by, they exceeded my expectations,” Tess says. “I still talk to them to this day. We are from different parts of the world, but we all had the same goal to help others, to make a difference.”
Tess returned to Kenya the following summer, this time bringing a friend who was eager for this experience. She worried the children wouldn’t remember her, but instead they ran toward her, hugging her as soon as she walked through the school gates. She had kept her promise to return, something many volunteers cannot do, and that mattered deeply to them. The second trip was equally meaningful and, in some ways, more difficult. She learned of children who had run away, saw others mature under harsh realities, and witnessed justice finally served for a girl who had spent four years awaiting a trial. It was painful, but it reaffirmed why she went back to help.
Tess also says that through all the difficult times, her faith grew stronger. Teaching Bible lessons, praying alongside the children, and witnessing how deeply faith sustained them transformed Tess’s own spiritual life. What she found was simple: despite vastly different lives, they believed in the same things and sought comfort in the same places. She came to believe one’s impact on others isn’t measured by permanence, but by presence.
Now preparing for college, with acceptances already secured, Tess knows she won’t be able to return to Kenya this summer, but she has no doubt she’ll go back again. She hopes one day to bring others with her, maybe even organizing trips to share the experience that changed her life.
What began as simple curiosity turned into a life-changing commitment that would reshape how young Tess Emanuel views service, faith, and her place in the world.
“I can’t change the whole system,” Tess says. “But I know I made a positive difference for someone. And that feels good.”
Tess’s story is not just about traveling far from home. It’s about listening to a quiet inner calling, stepping beyond her comfort zone, and learning that sometimes, changing one life—even briefly—can change your own forever.
Learn more about Better Me here.
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