Two weeks ago, five Wesleyan students’ dream—to bring free health services to women in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum—took a giant step forward. Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), an organization founded in 2005 by Kibera native Kennedy Odede ’12 to counter issues of systematic poverty and abuse of women that plague the region, received a $53,000 grant from the Newman’s Own Foundation to build a community health center.

“Basically what this means is that we’re breaking ground this summer for sure,” said Ari Tolman ’10, who has been laying plans for the creation of the Johanna Justin-Jinich Memorial Clinic of Kibera alongside Odede, Ford Writing Fellow Jess Posner ’09, Inslee Coddington ’10, and Leah Lucid ’10. “We have the money and we’re going to do it.”

The group has spent the last semester planning and fundraising for the clinic and is now waiting on the results of several contests. In addition to the Newman grant, the clinic is a semifinalist for the Dell Social Innovation Competition. The contest offers a grand prize of $50,000 for “the most ingenious entrepreneurial idea that will change the world,” according to its website. The first two rounds of the contest rely on public votes.

“We only made it to the second round of the competition thanks to all the Wesleyan voters,” Tolman said.

Voting will close on Wednesday, after which the finalists will head to Austin, Tex. to face a panel of judges.

Posner is also a finalist for MTV’s “Do Something” Award, which offers a grand prize of $100,000 or one of five “nominee” prizes of $10,000. Prizewinners will be announced in July.

The clinic is named for Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10, who was killed last May. Justin-Jinich had hoped to study international public health specializing in women’s rights after graduation, according to Lucid, so the group felt that creating a free women’s clinic was the perfect way to honor her memory.

“The number one killer of women in Kibera is childbirth, and extreme gender discrimination creates strong barriers for women accessing health facilities or health information,” the SHOFCO website reads. “As a result, young women in Kibera contract HIV at a rate five times that of their male counterparts and violence against women is a common occurrence.”

Justin-Jinich was heavily involved in women’s rights issues during her time at Wesleyan. She worked as both an escort at a local abortion clinic and a Spanish translator in the obstetrics wing at the Meriden Health Center.

“I was with Ari having coffee and lunch at Pi,” Lucid told The Argus in February.  “We were talking about this health center that specializes in women’s health, and it just suddenly hit me right in the head—Johanna would be going with me in a second.”

Musician and Wesleyan alumnus Santi “Santigold” White ’97, who was scheduled to play on campus on the day of Justin-Jinich’s death, will be performing a memorial concert for her on Friday, May 21. The concert is free and open to the entire student body, although donations, which will benefit the clinic, are encouraged. Students can also purchase symbolic tickets for the event at the Usdan Box Office as a way to donate through their student accounts.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the support we’ve received from the whole campus,” Tolman said.  “It’s really going to make this project possible and sustainable for the long term.”