The BOMA Fund


	The Boma Fund, Inc. is a publicly supported charitable organization recognized by the IRS as a registered 501(c)3. Please consider a tax deductible donation to The Boma Fund, Inc. by clicking on the Just Give button below.



	The BOMA Fund is a member of Aid For Africa – a unique partnership of select charities dedicated to helping children, families and communities throughout Africa.

	Employees of the Federal Government can contribute to The BOMA Fund through the Combined Federal Campaign – an annual workplace charity drive that the federal government runs every fall.

	Simply designate The BOMA Fund on your pledge form that you receive at work and write in our CFC number: 12366 We encourage donors to consider making a monthly payroll deduction. For just $25 per month, you can provide a small grant to a community organization or individual, improving access to training and resources that encourage entrepreneurship and the creation of jobs.

	If you are a federal employee, you can make your CFC donation by clicking on the Aid for Africa button below.

IT'S EASY, SAFE AND SECURE...
The Boma Fund works to improve opportunities for employment for the people of Northern Kenya. While many people associate Kenya with its wildlife and the tradition of safari, the people of Northern Kenya are far removed from the traditional safari routes. They do not benefit from the generosity of visitors to Kenya and there are few charitable organizations dedicated to providing resources that will contribute to the well-being of the pastoral nomads of Northern Kenya.

When you donate to The Boma Fund, you are donating to an efficient and responsive non-profit organization that relies on small-scale, grassroots initiatives that includes the local people in the solutions to modern-day challenges. Our philanthropy goes hand in hand with an acknowledgement of the traditional cultures of Northern Kenya and the commitment to empower people and not enable dependence.

The Boma Fund represents a unique group of donors committed to finding new ways of breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa. We are keenly aware of the reality that most donor funds do not reach Africa’s disadvantaged and poor. Years of ineffective aid by large international development organizations has created a culture of dependence that has undermined the development of markets and the stimulation of creative entrepreneurial thinking. We are inspired by the concept that “income is development” and that solutions sourced from within local communities can be better than those imposed by outside development organizations.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

SPONSOR AN “AGENT OF CHANGE”

In partnership with EARTH University 2 Kenyan students per year will be admitted as part of our Agents of Change Program. This program is a cornerstone of our long-term strategies and we are looking for donors to sponsor Kenyan students. Graduates are expected to return to Kenya as influential and ethical leaders who can improve environmental, economic and social conditions in their communities.

The sponsorship cost for one year is $16,500

SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FUND

Sponsor a community organization or individual so that BOMA can improve access to training and resources that encourage entrepreneurship and the creation of jobs.

Grants for the Small Business Development Fund range from $200 to $1000.

FAMINE RELIEF BEADING PROJECT

Help us with start up costs for the Christmas ornament beading project so that other women’s groups and villages may participate. With just a few hundred dollars for beads and some training, women can make their first steps toward economic independence that will empower them to make the decisions that directly affect their lives and wellbeing, as well as the lives of their children.

Grants for the Famine Relief Beading Project range from $300 to $3000, depending on the size of the village and the number of women’s groups.

We are also looking for community organizations in the US, like church and youth groups, who would be willing to sell the ornaments on our behalf. Please contact our office if you would like to help.

EMERGENCY SCHOOL FEES & ARREARS FUND

Help us move the young, secondary students most affected by the drought and resultant loss of livestock by contributing to the emergency school fees fund.

Grants to a single poor student from a single parent household are about $75 to $150.

Sponsor a group of students from a poor rural village for $500 to $1000.

Grants of $100 to $1000 will pay the arrears for the poorest and most able students from many rural villages, thus increasing their opportunities for self-reliance, as well as their ability to pay for sibling’s school fees.

PAINTING A BETTER FUTURE FOR KENYAN WOMEN

The BOMA Fund has partnered with Nancy Howe, a self-taught artist who began developing her art seriously in the last 20 years from her rural studio in Vermont.

Her paintings have become part of several museum permanent collections and been the recipient of numerous awards including the Grand Prize, in 2003, for the American National Award of Excellence, from the Oil Painters of America. She is the only woman artist chosen in the history of the US Department of Interior’s Federal Duck Stamp Program (1991) that was established in 1934.

Her painting, entitled “Holding All He Needs” (shown above) is part of a series of 10 to 15 paintings of native people of northern Kenya that she is planning to complete in the next two to three years. Her subject matter was inspired by her visit to the region in August of 2006. Nancy will be donating a generous amount to the BOMA Fund from each painting, and the series is planned to be reassembled at the completion of the project for an exhibition of all the artworks in Washington D.C.

SOLD! If you would like to receive updates on the availability of future paintings in the series as they become available please contact the BOMA office.

Kathleen Colson
Executive Director
PO Box 1865, 114 Bonnet St.
Manchester Center, VT 05255
802.362.1440
info@bomafund.org