MAASAI MARA, Kenya — Following up last year as one of 2016’s most charitable celebrity donors, Demi Lovato kicked off the new year with a charitable trip to the Maasai Mara region of Kenya in support of the WE Charity.

Formerly known as Free the Children, the WE Charity works internationally to help alleviate extreme poverty within developing countries such as Kenya, where 30 percent of the population lives under $1.25 a day. Because of these economic struggles, children are exposed to vulnerabilities such as malnutrition, child labor and young marriage. Central focuses of the WE Charity are child education programs, water safety, health and food sustainability and economic opportunity. As a result of these initiatives, the WE Charity expanded with the Me to We Movement.

The Me to We Movement serves as a “social enterprise that provides products that make an impact.” Each piece of jewelry sold through Me to We is handmade by Kenyan women, providing them with an income which enables them to send their children to school and further support their families. Lovato has utilized her world tour to globally support the WE Charity and has specially designed the Demi Lovato Rafiki Bracelet benefiting a women’s empowerment center in Kenya. Of the many retail partners, stores such as Walgreens, Fossil, PacSun and Nordstrom support the sales of Me to We products.

Since 2013 when Lovato began working alongside the WE Charity, she has helped raise more than $80,000. While Lovato made time for safari tours on her recent visit to the Maasai Mara Reserve, the purpose of her trip was to support the continual empowerment of Kenyan women who gain entrepreneurial opportunities through programs such as Me to We. The WE Charity has attested to Lovato’s support of the organization and how she has committed herself to learning the methods used to implement sustainability through the eradication of poverty.