News

Enlargement of the Somero Center

Support of the stipendaries, mentor training, literacy classes, computer lessons, a meeting place for young and old – the Somero Center in Kampala, which was opened only a little more than a year ago, is hosting many different activities by now. The premises have become too small to continue with all these activities in the future - because more and more young people are coming into Somero Center every day. Therefore, Somero decided this summer to hire the rest of the so far empty center space. The Somero Center now has to a large training room, a computer room, two offices, a kitchen and a bathroom.

Somero painted house walls in Kampala

In April, Somero Uganda implented an exciting project together with two other local charity organisation. Twelve house walls in the district of Wasiko in the Ugandan capital were painted with colourful murals.

Both the Somero stipendiaries as well as young inhabitants of the district were involved. The theme of the supersized paintings was child labour well and the importance of school education. The aim of the art happening was to sensitize the young people in Wasiko for the relevance of education.

The murals make the district a little more colourful and gave everyone a fun opportunity to show their creativity and practice their painting skills. The 35 participating children and teenagers developed the designs for the murals themselves and then painted them on the walls with the help of the organisers. The project was financed by the Internatioal Labour Organization which we would like to thank very much for their support. The results can now be seen on the street corners of Wakiso and will contribute to raising the visibility of Somero. Here a small selection of the murals:

In order to inspire other organisations for this type of projects, a detailed documentation of the initiative was uploaded to 12to12-Portal: 12to12

New adress

As from now, Somero can be reached under a new postal adress. If you would like to contact Somero via ordinary mail, please use the following adress:

Somero e. V.
c / o Christian Kind
Hiddenseer Str. 7a
10437 Berlin
Germany

Somero annual meeting 2011

On 5 and 6 February 2011 our annual general meeting took place in Berlin. For two days, 15 active members of the German team discussed strategies, perspectives and visions for the next year. The Ugandan coordinator Geofrey Nsubuga joined for an input via video conference. He was very much praised for his work. The Somero Center which was opened last year works well and is used for a variety of services. In the near future we are looking for new members for the advisory board in Uganda.

Furthermore, we evaluated last year's German working groups and entered already in the very specific planning for next year. The fundraising group is by now thinking about a summer promotion activity and the Uganda group wants to adapt the reporting system with Geofrey. In addition, we have used the time to learn more about development cooperation in general and the educational system in Uganda, which starts very differently from the German one with a seven-year primary school, which is then followed by a two-tier secondary school.

The elections confirmed Janna Rassmann and Daniel Heuermann in office as Chair and Deputy Chair. Lina Huppertz will continue to serve as Treasurer on the board. Caroline Harnacke remains in the expanded board and as a new member we welcome Silke Steingrube here.

We are all looking forward to another year Somero e.V.!

Somero is ASA-Program Partner

We are happy to announce that Somero has been selected for the ASA-Program of the German organization InWEnt gGmbH! The ASA Program is a development education program mostly financed by the German Ministry of Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ). Each year, the ASA-Program enables 240 young people from Europe to take part in a learning and qualification program dedicated to development education. Starting from October 2011 a German and a Polish student will support the Somero Center in Kampala, organize their own activities for our scholarship holders as well as for people from the neighborhood and support the strategic development of our organization. More information

At the Victory Column for Somero

Since mid-August you can see an oversized photo of our treasurer Lina Huppertz at the huge veiled Berlin Victory Column! How did that come about? As part of the campaign be Berlin about 200 socially engaged Berliners got the opportunity to present their commitment in a different way. Lina applied with Somero and was selected by a jury. Check it out at http://www.berlin-dein-gesicht.de/ or even better, have a look at the original in Berlin city center!

Somero Center is opened

Somero Center

We are very proud: in May, the Somero Center was opened in a township in Kampala! The timing was perfect - the holidays had just started so that a holiday program for the stipendiaries could immediately take place at the new center. Besides group discussions, information meetings on e.g. HIV/ Aids and the opportunity to exchange experiences, the stipendiaries also painted the walls with pictures of their choice: all of them could propose images, they agreed on two of those pictures and painted them together. Hereby, they were supported by a volunteer who is an artist.

The office of Geofrey, our social worker, is also housed in the center. Thus, it is already now focal point and meeting place for our mentor training and the meetings of the Board. Together with the stipendiaries, we decide how we want to use the center exactly. Whether for supervised homework, as cafe or as a practice place for a theater group - there are already many ideas!

Somero annual meeting

It is Somero's birthday! To celebrate the first anniversary the annual meeting was held on 20 February 2010 in Berlin. Active members of the team Somero Germany spent a creative and constructive day.

Next year we want to rent a small office in Kampala, which should not only be the working place for the social worker Geofrey, but also a meeting place, library and emergency shelter for the stipendiaries. We also want to involve more local volunteers and mentors for the stipendiaries to be able to continue their intensive support. In Germany, we will continue our fundraising for a steady and sustainable expansion of our project, we want to set up a blog, try to work together with schools.... and much more. The team is highly motivated!

The Board elections confirmed Janna Rassmann (Chair), Lina Huppertz (Treasurer), Caroline Harnacke (expanded Board) and Juliane Rehberg (expanded Board) in their positions. We welcome Daniel Heuermann as a new Deputy Chairman!

Somero e.v. has been awarded the Social Commitment Award 2009

Somero e.v. has been awarded the Social Commitment Award 2009 by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. According to the jury, three outstanding projects of socio- political meaning were selected among over 50 applications. The jury was looking for new projects fighting the most urgent social problems, with the most ethical value added and the highest potential for growth.

On November 14, 2009, Lina Huppertz, Juliane Rehberg, Christian Kind and Janna Rassmann accepted the price on behalf of all members and supporters of Somero from Professor Gesine Schwan. Somero will use the prize money of € 1.000,00 to further support stipendiaries in Uganda and to create a long-term network among them.

Education sponsors wanted!

The initiative Somero is looking for donators for nine girls and young women in Uganda! We support young people who follow their dream of education with exceptional motivation but who cannot finance their education. Many lack support from their families or another social community. Instead of going to school, they have to work – often under inhumane conditions.

Since 2008 we have been supporting three young Ugandans. Now we would like to include nine new stipendiaries into our program:

Barbara (19 years), Bilabwa (14 years), Christine (17 years), Claire (18 years), Juliet (17 years), Maisha (17 years), Nuluyati (7 years), Prossy (17 years) and Tusaabe (16 years) are waiting for your support!
Get active!

Somero Girls Day

Together with the Somero stipendiaries and the young women who will be supported by Somero starting in the beginning of next year, Janna Rassmann and Geofrey Nsubuga spent a wonderful day at the Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe and in the Botanical Garden at the Victoria Lake. During talks and games the participants had the chance to get to know each other better. A stipendiary remembers:

„We went to Entebbe to visit the zoo and to enjoy our holidays and leisure, to learn more about each other and to become friends, And last but not least we made the tour to fresh up our minds and to run away from stress. From the zoo we went to the Botanical Garden. We had a lot of fun after our delicious lunch. Some went to swim and playing beach volleyball. At the end we had a discussion with all participants to talk about how we can be successful in our life and studies. I really enjoyed that day very much and had a lot of fun. Knowing each other is the best way to solve problems and to help each other. I hope we can have such a wonderful and educational programme again, maybe every year. Thanks to Somero for helping us to make our dream come true!“

Team Somero Uganda

Our team in Uganda is complete! On September 4th we held the first meeting with all stakeholders. A number of volunteers will now support our social worker Geofrey with the further development of Somero in Uganda as well as with the selection of the new stipendiaries. Among the new members are a UN official from the international program against child labor, a local politician, a nun, a headmaster and a psychologist. Two university students will support Geofrey in mentoring the girls – thus the stipendiaries now also have female mentors who regularly visit and consult them.

Dear friends of Somero,

greetings from Uganda, where I am spending July and August 2009. Geofrey Nsubunga, our social worker in Uganda and I are meeting project partners of Somero as well as current and potential future stipendiaries, We try to strengthen the structures of Somero on the ground and develop a work plan for the next year. Hopefully, we can admit up to ten new stipendiaries within the next months! It is great to see the enthusiasm and energy which Geofrey puts into his work. Thanks for all the back-up support we get from the team in Germany! Best regards from Kampala!

Janna Rassmann