About us

Founding President – Dr. Aseniah Wallace visited eSwatini, Africa, on a church mission trip in 2013 and was touched so deeply by the experience that her life was never the same. The experience made it difficult for her to walk away without doing something to help. Several gifted orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) shared with Dr. Wallace their dreams of becoming doctors and healthcare professionals. These dreams would be impossible to achieve without assistance in gaining access to higher education in health care.

After conducting a year of research, the idea of empowering victims of extreme health conditions to pursue healthcare careers and returning to their native region as health professionals for better global health, evolved into a three-fold solution. The primary purpose for forming Building International Bridges to Higher Education (BIBHE) became to improve health conditions by equipping gifted OVC with skills to become doctors, nurses, and other certified health professionals. The ultimate aim of helping them to achieve their personal dreams, and improving health conditions within their families and communities is the contribution to better global health.

Dr. Wallace established Building International Bridges to Higher Education (BIBHE) in June 2014. BIBHE is an advocacy organization committed to creating educational opportunities for OVC leading to career pathways in healthcare and medicine. As a nonprofit charity organization, all proceeds of BIBHE are tax-deductible.

Our Vision

To achieve better global health and improve extreme health conditions through healthcare education and empowerment of victims from indigent populations.

Our Values

Talent endures where solutions can emerge independent of economic status.

Our Mission

To offer OVC pathways to higher education for careers in healthcare through partnerships with foundations, local and international families, government and community organizations, secondary schools, college preparatory high schools, colleges, and universities.

Program Overview

Building International Bridges to Higher Education (BIBHE) offers orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) educational opportunities leading to career pathways in healthcare and medicine. BIBHE supports public awareness campaigns regarding global health issues. An example: the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and active tuberculosis, which has overwhelmed the healthcare system in eSwatini, Africa.

Program participants are identified and recruited from schools and academies in the region. Their academic progress is monitored and assessed using standard aptitude testing tools as bench markers of satisfactory academic progress. Upon completing high school and meeting college requirements for admission, BIBHE participants choose a course of study that will track them into a health career pathway that best suits their academic potential and interest.

Building International Bridges to Higher Education networks with college/universities and foundations to develop educational and financial resources to enable program participants to obtain a quality education. Participants are required by program contract to return and work in their native homelands as health care professionals. Students must render 3 to 5 years of service in their native region upon graduation.

Program Goals

Goal 1 – Uphold the commitment of the Minister of Education goal in eSwatini to educate girls.

Goal 2 – Expand the program to include male and female students who wish to pursue any career in healthcare & other areas of STEM. New! Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Goal 3 – Help reduce healthcare workforce deficit to meet the World Health Organization's recommendation of 2.3 professional health workers per 1,000 people in eSwatini; and increase economic empowerment.

Goal 4 – Establish a return and retention program upon completion of education.

Our Team

Board of Director Officers:

President/Chair of Board: Aseniah Wallace, DHA, MBA, BS, Background includes: 30-years of executive management experience at Digital Equipment/Compaq, Polaroid, and Sun Microsystems corporations. Also worked as Interim Campus Director/Core faculty/Academic advisor for three-years: and currently teach as adjunct professor of Healthcare Administration at Webster University for eight years.

Secretary: Carolyn Hickman-Williams, ABD, retired Director of Human Resources Coastal Carolina University.

Treasurer: Paula Hildebrand, Finance/Bookkeeping Professional.

Chief of Medical Staff/Education Officer: Dr. James Adamson, MD, retired and well-respected community physician for over 30-years. (Internal Medicine practice owner).

Executive Program Director of the New! STEM project: Carol Benjamin is a missionary who lived in eSwatini for 7 years, creating and implementing programs for high school students there. She has a passion for helping disadvantaged kids break free from hopelessness and poverty.

Carol earned an MBA from Purdue University and a Certificate in Biblical Studies from Trinity University in Chicago. She enjoyed a 30-year career in IT/Finance at GE Healthcare before she became a full-time missionary. She now serves the Lord in Wisconsin with her husband Jack, children and grandchildren.

Organizational Development/Parliamentary Procedure: Robert N. Wallace III - President of Wallace Success International, Organizational Development Consultant, National Training Laboratory Institute for Applied Behavioral Science (NTL) member, Emotional Intelligence Human Relations Center Board Member, and Adjunct Professor at Webster University.

Medical Education Advisor: Dr. Dode Washington, MD, retired and well-respected OBGYN practice owner (Emeritus officer).

Agency-Consultant/Officer: Curtina Simmons (ABD), Masters in Social Work – University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, retired professor for Johnson C. Smith University - Honorary Memorial Officer - (February 20, 1941 – December 21, 2018)

Partners

Advance Technology Management Company
Children’s Cup Corporation
Hotchkiss High School Academy
NCNW - Greater Boston Area

How to Become a Partner

For more information email atwallace@bibhesg-bibhe.org or call 843-333-3515

Founding President Dr. Aseniah Wallace

©Copyright 2022 BIBHE Organization ‐ Building International Bridges to Higher Education ‐ Bibhesg dba Bibhe - Non-Profit Organization