Wa Kalala is passionate about helping people that don’t have some of the things that we often take for granted.
“I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do, but I know it has to be something that helps people,” Wa Kalala said.
She was born in Brazzaville, Congo and has moved from place to place for most of her life. It is important to her to help build up a community for the people that live there.
“I know, Congo is a really good place to be, but they just don’t have the right people to help them,” Wa Kalala said.
Her father, Patrick Kalala, organizes a nonprofit group called la voie des orphelins (the path of orphans) that focuses on helping children back in Congo attend school and pay rent. He has also studied to become a doctor and one of the organization’s goals is to open up a clinic where people can affordably seek medical aid. Wa Kalala and her father often talk about ideas and how they can change the world for the better.
“Helena helps me by giving me ideas of what I could do, she is very passionate and has some of the same goals as me. As a father, I am very proud of her and her character, I believe she will accomplish many great things in her life,” Patrick said.

Wa Kalala moved to the United States with her family in 2015. She’s stayed in Congo, Brazil, Illinois, Portugal… (etc), but always being the new kid can be painful, and she often found herself without many friends.
“I was a really sad girl. A typical loner or typical girl who is traveling with her parents,” she said.
Once Helena moved to Iowa in 2017, however, she had better luck socializing and is now part of a big group of tightly knit friends.
“She’s super confident and can get along with anyone, and she’s literally the nicest person ever. She can make anyone laugh,” said her friend, Jenny Tang.
In fact, one of the favorite parts of the day is sitting down to eat lunch with her peers.
“I feel happy at lunch because first of all, I’m eating, and second of all, I’m with all of my good friends. My good friends are the people that care about me and make me laugh. I can talk to them and I know I trust them.”