Reda Riffi | Photo by Tanvir Hasan

As a schoolboy in Casablanca, Morocco, Case Western Reserve junior Reda Riffi saw entrenched wealth inequities—and the impact of adults who volunteered to improve the lives of children in need.

After high school, he studied at a Tunisian university for two years and volunteered at a nearby hospital as the COVID-19 pandemic roiled the world.

He soon created the nonprofit Eleos Association, an international nonprofit supporting a network of partners working to improve healthcare, nutrition and education. The partners include a school, Nourish Educare, outside Cape Town, South Africa, for young children.

Last year, Riffi received a Peter Witt Scholarship from the College of Arts and Sciences for his commitment to and passion for community service. In addition, Nourish Educare named him its treasurer and later its Leader of the Year.

“Being of service [first in Tunisia and then South Africa] made my life meaningful and intensified my commitment to making a positive impact, particularly in marginalized communities,” said Riffi, a neuroscience and chemistry major.

With Nourish Educare, Riffi said, Eleos provides funding and support for the school’s basic medical and educational needs as well as emergency needs. He said a nominal amount can make an enormous difference in a child’s life.

A Cleveland native who came to CWRU for the neuroscience program, Riffi said he aims to expand the impact of Eleos. He wants to eventually support a high school for children who have attended Nourish Educare and forge new partnerships to benefit children in impoverished Moroccan communities.

“We want to provide them with the chance to have a better life,” he said. “The real wealth is to give, not possess or receive. It’s a kind of altruism that makes me happy.”