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Soma (read and learn in Swahili) was founded in 2007. It became operational in 2008 when it opened Soma Book Café, a launching pad for the promotion of reading for leisure and learning, the first readership space of its kind in Dar es salaam.
Essentially, Soma promotes the creative word as a catalyst for transforming, deconstructing, reclaiming and reimagining cultural identities, her/histories and authoring alternative futures.
If Tanzanian and African women, children and youth, of diverse identities, consciously excavate silenced herstories of their contribution to world heritage of wealth, culture, and knowledge; and
If they consciously articulate these contributions to the world heritage of wealth, culture, and knowledge; and
When these articulations inform narratives, learning, everyday conversations and national discourse to expose myths and stereotypes that normalize exclusion and subordination of women, people with different ableness and identities; and
When this process and outcome empowers them to use their knowledge about the past to understand the present, imagine the future and cause transformation;
Then Tanzania (and Africa) will realize its full potential as a prosperous and equitable society.
Soma’s community of partners and allies grows and develops around five mutually reinforcing outcome areas: Space, Skills, Narratives, Voices and Action.
Strategy 1: Grow a vibrant storytelling hub where women, youth, children and diverse identities engage creatively, collaborate and network to contribute to the Transformative Feminist Movement.
Strategy 2: Facilitate the growth of a strong cadre of feminist authors to safeguard visibility of women agency and integrity in mainstream Tanzanian and pan African political, social and cultural memory.
Strategy 3: Sustain vibrant public discourse amplifying pan African feminist and sustainable earth ideas.
Strategy 4: Grow a sustainable and resilient institutional base that efficiently accesses and utilizes resources and opportunities to Transformative feminists storytelling with a pan African ecofeminist edge.
