Meet the Team

Bethelhem Tessema, Executive Director
Bread and Water for Africa’s mission is very personal to me. As a veteran of our parent organization Christian Relief Services Charities Inc., I do know the accountability and efficiency of our programs. Having been born and raised in Africa, I know firsthand the struggles that many of Africa’s children face every day. In addition, I know how a little support can make a big long-term impact for many people across Africa. I am also a big advocate for sustainable programs and from my three years at Bread and Water for Africa, I can proudly say that we focus our mission and efforts towards that goal.

Phyllis Keino, Volunteer Spokesperson and Founder and Director of Lewa Children’s Home and Kipkeino School
Phyllis began caring for orphaned Kenyan children in the early 1960s. Since then she has been a tireless advocate for Africa’s children, founding the Lewa Children’s Home and the Kipkeino School. For the last seven years she has also served as the volunteer spokesperson for Bread and Water Africa UK, travelling all over the world to spread the message about our work – she was recently honoured in Canada with the International Alliance for Women (TIAW) World of Difference 100 award for her unwavering commitment to the children of Kenya.

Paul Krizek, General Counsel
My life revolves around my family, my church, charity work and civic involvement. I am currently the General Counsel to Christian Relief Services Charities and its project, Bread and Water for Africa®. I am also a longtime member of the DC and Virginia Bar Associations. My civic involvement includes my current role as the Vice Chair of the Family and Children’s Trust Fund and many past roles in the political arena, my church, and the community at-large.

I enjoy supporting the efforts of Bread and Water for Africa® because of my strong affinity for Africa and her wonderful people. Specifically, after meeting Phyllis Keino, the heart and soul of Bread and Water for Africa®, and witnessing a saint first-hand I found it difficult, indeed impossible, to not support her amazing efforts, even as I do so from afar. I met her some twenty five years ago and was struck then by this irrepressible force of nature…hardly sleeping, always working, as a mother to hundreds of orphans -- a visionary and dreamer that follows through and makes things happen.

My hobbies are gardening and volunteering. My motto is “when you reach a fork in the road, take it.” My favorite scripture is from Deuteronomy 15:7 “If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.”

Jos Creemers, Baraka Farm Manager
Dutch farmer Jos Creemers first came to Kenya in 1994 as a volunteer through the VSO programme. He has never looked back. Over the past seventeen years, Jos has turned what was once a barren tract of land into one of the region’s most successful farms and dairy processing facilities. He and Phyllis make up the heart and soul of the Lewa projects and inspire us each and every day with their commitment to improving the lives of those in need in Kenya and across Africa.