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Africa SOMA Inc.

In October 2005, Caroline Archambault (PhD) and I co-founded Africa SOMA Inc., a non-profit volunteer organization. SOMA is Swahili for to learn and to read. Through Africa SOMA we support small scale education initiatives in the regions of Kenya where we have been doing our research. Africa SOMA is a 501c3 registered organization in Massachussets, USA, and is currently being registered as a Canadian charity. For information on donations (much appreciated!), please visit either our webpage (USA) or webpage (Canada).

Since then, we have worked with the local Maasai community from Elangata Wuas in southern Kenya to establish the Elangata Wuas Resource Center, a community based organization (CBO). In collaboration with this CBO, we have set up a:

Secondary School Scholarship Program
Every year, we award 4-year secondary school scholarships to the top 2 girls and top 2 boys of five participating primary schools. We are currently supporting 16 scholarship winners. Each scholarship is $270 per student per year. The school with the highest average performance receives a symbolic school improvement bonus of $150.

Community Resource Center
With contributions from the Netherlands Embassy Small Grants program and the local Constituency Development Fund, the CBO is currently working hard to finalize the construction of a unique community resource center (spring 2009). With the center, we aim to create a place where children of all ages can gain access to study materials and books and use the center as a place to read and study, where local community groups can access information, meet, and where regional organizations can organize community outreach activities. The center is also designed to harvest rainwater for the children of the nearby primary school. We are looking for private donations to purchase furniture, books, solar, and other resources, to turn the building into a thriving community center and catalyst for civil participation.

Student Volunteer Program
Over the past three years, we have benefited from the support of more than a dozen student volunteers from Canada, Holland, and Slovenia, who have provided teaching assistance to the local schools and worked with local youth to develop programs for the community center. Student volunteers have also carried out many art exchange projects (see below).

Pupil Art Exchanges
Each exchange is a project that links children in a class from a local Kenyan primary school with children in a class in a non-Kenyan school through an educational art exchange designed by our volunteers and participating teachers that aim to stimulate cross-cultural learning. More than two dozen school classes in Elangata Wuas, the Nairobi slums, and the Mt. Kenya area have been linked with classes in Canada, the United States, Holland, and Slovenia.

For more information please visit our website.