Leoma James-Sarr talks Philanthropy with Harambee House Global and upcoming event, ‘Pan African Perspectives’
Photos by Susan Fried
Leoma James-Sarr, an educator, writer, and the founder of Harambee House Global joined host Trae Holiday on The Day With Trae to spotlight her organization's impactful work and shed light on the forthcoming Pan-African Perspectives event taking place this weekend. Harambee House Global is a non-profit advocating for youth, education, community engagement, and social justice.
For James-Sarr, her commitment to philanthropy predates the founding of her organization. After being part of a study abroad program at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, James-Sarr later joined the Peace Corps in 2017. She served as a secondary education teacher in Namibia and Southern Africa for two and a half years. This endeavor has deeply influenced her career trajectory and current projects.
"During that time, we started a project. My school is the Etale Combined School over in the Ohangwena Region, and we began the construction of the Etale Combined School Educational Development Center," James-Sarr said. " So that project, we are raising $10,000, and at the time, we secured a $10,000 grant to create the first phase of the project, and now we're moving into the second phase."
The second phase revolves around crowdfunding the remaining $10,000 needed to complete the center's construction. Funding will directly go to various amenities, such as a stage, bathrooms, community kitchen, and expanding classrooms, as well as the implementation of community and teacher development programs, further enhancing the educational system in the region. While this is Harambee House Global's main priority, James-Sarr has planned to extend her efforts to encompass other projects across Africa in tandem with this initiative.
"Last year, I had the great privilege of being able to spend a year in Tanzania learning Swahili as a Board Fellow, and during that time, I was working with the Elimu community light in Arusha, Tanzania," James-Sarr said. "We are also going to be building a center in Tanzania to support the students."
She continued, "We're just going to do one project at a time and so first project, we're going to finish the one in Namibia. Second, we're going to move over to Tanzania, and then our third project is a legacy project in Senegal, in West Africa, where my husband is and my new family there is. We have land there that we're going to be building on soon as well."
James-Sarr underscored the impact of volunteering on her life while addressing the systemic barriers that disproportionately affect participation, particularly within the Black community. She highlighted the prerequisite of a college degree for programs like the Peace Corps, which often presents a challenging dilemma for recent graduates.
"We have been so centered on supporting our families and building our families and our communities. Giving two years of volunteer service after being the first person in your family to get a college degree just doesn't seem like the thing to do for many families," James-Sarr said. "And I get it, you know, when I left for the Peace Corps, my mom was like, "What are you doing? You just got your degree, like work, make money." And so I promised her I'd come back, I'd get my master's, and that's what I did. I came back, I got my master's in education at UW, and now I'm able to support my family in bigger ways than I would have had I not gone to the Peace Corps and been opened up to a whole new network of people and possibilities."
Since departing from the Peace Corps and founding her organization, James-Sarr selected the name 'Harambee' for its translation: "All pull together." Reflecting her vision of bringing people together for a common cause, the organization offers individuals the opportunity to support meaningful initiatives that actively contribute to positive global change, fostering community development and empowerment.
"This is grassroots funding. We're just putting our money together, putting our resources together, whether it be soccer balls, school books for preprimary kids, resources to build up the development center, or for one of the preschools," James-Sarr said. "We're just putting every little thing that we have and, in the spirit of Harambe, pulling together, working together. Harambe, it's all about community. It's all about people helping people."
James-Sarr's efforts in fundraising will be on display this Sunday, April 14, at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute during Harambee House Global's anticipated event, ‘Pan African Perspectives: Building Bridges Beyond Borders.’ Collaborating with Harambee House Global for this event is Africa Now, a non-profit dedicated to educating and uniting the African Diaspora.
"Africa Now has a long history of doing these Black dialogue series, and so Harambe House Global wants to work together with Africa Now to produce something very similar but rooted in this kind of intergenerational dialogue," James-Sarr said.
With their partnership, the two organizations aim to host an event that strives to cultivate intergenerational dialogue and collaboration, providing a platform to share insights and experiences from elders and James-Sarr herself. The event will also spotlight themes from her upcoming book, 'No Blame, No Shame, No Guilt,' including colonization and the ongoing systemic challenges confronting communities across the African continent to this day.
"We recognize that those problems, those issues, that systemic racism. It's still happening now, and it's still happening on the continent. There are countries that are literally in a chokehold from their colonial countries that will not let them thrive, that will not let them move on, that will not let them forget about the times before. And so that's what it's about," James-Sarr said. "It's about highlighting those experiences, those stories, but providing an opportunity here in Seattle for people within the African diaspora to come together and have conversations about, 'how can we build together, how can we work together, how can we make sure that our dollar is working outside of this country and in this country? How can we build strong business bases? "
The event will also serve as a platform for attendees to contribute towards improving conditions at a Tukwila refugee camp.
"Harambee House is about sending money to different projects—Namibia, Tanzania, and Senegal are the primary countries right now. But there's also a huge need for support right here in our own backyard," James-Sarr said. "So we're also working together with organizations that are supporting that refugee camp. I encourage everyone if you have the resources, to be able to support the people who are there because they need us just as much as anybody.
Click here to secure tickets for the Pan African Perspectives event. Visit Harambee House Global's website here to explore further details about its ongoing projects and upcoming events and initiatives.
"I want to be able to eventually use Harambee House Global as a way to bring more Black Americans to the continent, as well as more exceptional leaders," James-Sarr said. "There's so many exceptional people working in different African countries who can bring so much wisdom and expertise to our community building here, who have a plethora of experiences that we can use here and learn from and build from. Being able to do a cross-cultural exchange is really the goal."
To hear more about exciting upcoming event happening in Seattle and beyond, tune in to Trae every weekday at 11 am on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
