New Media Learning - Soma Safari Year 2
Sustain what we've built. Expand to more Communities
Soma Safari means "reading adventure" in Swahili. After a strong first year, six Book Ecosystems are entering Year 2: four schools, the children's ward at Kenyatta National Hospital and a children's shelter in Ngong and expanding to rural Bomet County and Kakuma Refugee Camp
Year 2 Fundraising Goal
Year 1
We Planted The Seeds
52,000
Books Delivered
1,500+
Children Reached
60+
Librarians & educators trained
$31,500 raised so far - 63% of the year 2 goal
$50,000
The Year 2 story
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From seed funding to local sustainability
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Soma Safari is designed as a seed-funding model, not a permanent aid model. The six original Kenyan Book Ecosystems enter Year 2 — strengthening local leadership, programming, partnerships, and community ownership. Roughly 100,000 additional books will also let Soma Safari reach new Kenyan communities, each beginning its own Year 1 journey.
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Books · Partners · Training · Access · Community engagement​​​​​​
Year 1 - Seed
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Year 2 - Sustain & Expand
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Strengthen capacity · Deepen engagement · Expand access · Local leadership
Year 3 - Local Ownership
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Community adoption · Local leadership · Global Book Ecosystems advisory role
Build & sustain the ecosystem
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Getting books there is step one. Building a reading culture around them is the next.
A book in a child's home can change a future
Home libraries are core to the Global Book Ecosystems theory of change. The goal: help each child add about 25 books to their home library every year, building toward roughly 100 books by the end of third grade. Books aren't meant to stay in boxes — they're meant to go home.
$10 per child for a My Home Library Bin
Expand what children can read
$5,000-$10,000
Locally relevant books
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Help communities supplement donated books with Kenyan-published, culturally relevant, locally selected titles
$5,000-$10,000
Digital reading access​
Funds a National Library–sponsored digital subscription, reachable by QR code on community boxes — so access continues even after physical books go home
How it fits together
How a Book Ecosystem works
Ages 0-5
Early Education
Nurture curiosity from the beginning.
Ages 6-10
Primary School
Move children from learning to read toward reading to learn.
Children And Families
Early Education
Extend access beyond school and library walls.
Built Together
