Seeds of Africa is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to educate and nurture children and their families by providing quality education and community development programs. They move beyond the traditional aid model by shifting from mere relief efforts, to providing students, families, and communities with the resources and skills they need to support themselves and find local solutions to fight poverty, increase civic participation, and enhance community re-investment.

They began in 2008 as an after-school program, and have since grown into a full-time school that serves pre-k to 4th grade students, and a community development program that serves their mothers and other female guardians. Seeds of Africa is currently in the midst of its Dream School Campaign: a  $2.2 million campaign to build a world-class school and community center that serves 600 students – from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade – and their families and the community at large.

Seeds of Africa operates two major programs: Seeding Education and Sowing Community. Seeding Education offers high-quality education to students, in addition to school meals, uniforms, school supplies and medical support. Sowing Community works with families to increase their household incomes and improve their quality of life through health education seminars, adult literacy and entrepreneurship courses, and access to credit.

Seeding Education: Their educational philosophy is student-centered and draws inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach, which “promotes children’s education through the development of all their languages: expressive, communicative, symbolic, cognitive, ethical, metaphorical, logical, imaginative and relational.”

Sowing Community: Their Sowing Community program works with their students’ families, mainly mothers and grandmothers, to increase their household incomes and improve their quality of life.