Charles Wangondu’s dream of giving back to his native Africa didn’t start with fundraising in fancy hotels or with silent auctions for weekend getaways and massages. It began in living rooms across Buckhead, Vinings and Sandy Springs, with quiet but excited conversations about changing lives thousands of miles away.
Wangondu, owner of TFalls Pest Control, has turned his small circle of loyal customers into a force for good, raising nearly $700,000 to rebuild schools in his homeland of Kenya.
Because of their work, more than 1,000 children attend schools with tile or wood floors and bathrooms with multiple stalls, toilets, sinks and running water instead of outdoor latrines. Their three schools have been given top-to-bottom renovations, and construction on a fourth school has started.
“The goal is to contribute toward a more prosperous future for communities of Kenyan children,” said David Kirkpatrick, one of Wangondu’s longtime customers and chairman of the board of his nonprofit.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
Born the eighth of nine children, Wangondu and his siblings were left to fend for themselves in the Kenyan town of Thomson after their mother’s death and their father’s remarriage. He was 6 at the time.
There were days when, while other students went home to lunch, they’d have only a cup of water. School was often out of reach, not just because it was a long walk but also because they couldn’t come up with the $10 fee that each household was expected to pay for their children’s education.
“We went through a lot,” Wangondu said.
His life took a turn for the better when one of his married sisters, a teacher, took him and his younger brother into her home, allowing him to finally focus on his studies and his love of sports. That dedication earned him a track scholarship to a college in Atlanta. To make money while in school, he worked as a valet, a job that taught him the importance of making connections.
One of the people whose cars he parked owned a major pest control company and gave him a job. By 2008, he was ready to strike out on his own. He created a pest control company that, like his foundation, is named ‘TFalls’ after Thomson, a town that still has his heart and a 243-foot waterfall.
As his company grew, so did Wangondu’s desire to give back. For years, he sent food, clothing and money back to Thomson to help orphans, with whom he felt a kinship. But he wondered if there was something he could do that could have a bigger impact.
He decided to focus on education and approached Kirkpatrick, who had been a customer by then for 10 years, knew his life story and had helped with clothing donations for Kenya.
“One day, we had a conversation about how he’d like to take it to a higher level,” Kirkpatrick said.
A small gathering at Kirkpatrick’s house sparked the movement. Some of Wangondu’s pest control clients came, as did some of Kirkpatrick’s neighbors. Equipped with a PowerPoint presentation, Wangondu won over the small group, which got the ball rolling on other small meetings and offers of support.
Renovations on the first school were completed in 2022, and on the second in 2023. The third reopened recently, and work on a fourth school started immediately.
The first school has a total of 16 boys’ and girls’ bathrooms and saw its test scores jump 16% after the renovations were complete.
“It’s only because of the people around me that we’ve been able to do so much in such a short time,” Wangondu said.
He asked some of his pest control customers to serve on the board of his nonprofit. “Nobody turned me down,” he said smiling.
“It started with a little pebble in the pond, and the ripples have been really powerful,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’ve been involved in a lot of other things. But this has turned into something way beyond what I expected.”
HOW TO HELP
To learn how you can help, visit the TFalls Foundation website at tfallsfoundation.org/support-us.
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