Meet the team
meet the ground team
The team in Uganda is the reason operations run safe and smooth, and are the driving force behind our children's education.
Mr. Alexander Oboi
DIRECTOR
mr. agwaru joseph
head teacher
mr. nagwere missi
top class teacher
mr. mubala philip
primary 5 teacher
mr. isaac ganyante
middle class teacher
mr. mugalya bernard
primary 6 teacher
ms. fatuma namajja
primary 3 teacher
ms. logose faith
school nurse
mr. sulait wasswa
primary 4 teacher
ms. gladys musibiha
primary 2 teacher
ms. kasha sarah
baby class teacher
ms. nankoma ketty
primary 2/3 teacher
mr. joseph sisye
medical clinic janitor
ms. juliet baluka
primary 1 teacher
meet the board
Our board members bring their background and expertise to help run The Somero Project. As voluteers ourselves, we not only make decisions for Somero, we carry out the actions.
becky olson
president, co founder
craig conover
secretary, co founder
sausha knott
director of marketing
hannah sullivan
treasurer
andrea farred
board member
kristen bergerson
board member
our story
where it all began
In 2008, Craig Conover began supporting a small village in Uganda named Kotolo. Craig had an established friendship with Alexander Oboi, a local Ugandan. Alex and his mother Susan Mary asked Craig to pay for the construction of a primary school in Kotolo, because there was no local school. The closest public school was several miles away, and the children in Kotolo had to walk on foot to attend.
2008-2012
Craig had the idea to fund the school through asking for financial support and in turn would train and run marathons. He created “26 for Africa” – the ‘26’ represented 26 miles in a marathon. Craig was also simultaneously working full time, and was funding the majority of the school construction & teacher salaries (4 teachers to start) in phases out of his 401(K) retirement plan. Unfortunately, funding was few and far between, so Craig was funding everything for the school from 2008 to 2012 out of his own pocket.
2012
In 2012, Craig and his daughter Becky had a conversation that led to Becky taking control of the non-profit organization so that Craig was able to eventually retire. Becky got a group of her friends together, formed a Board of Directors, changed the name from “26 to Africa” to “The Somero Project,” and started a sponsorship program to generate funding. The idea of sponsorship was to partner a student and a sponsor, putting a real name and face to the sponsor’s $25 monthly donation.
throughout the years
In the years since The Somero Project was established, we have accomplished a number of exciting projects in Kotolo.
2008 – Original school block construction (4 classrooms)
2012 – Expansion of additional classrooms added on to original school block
2014/2015 – Construction of second school block (4 classrooms)
2014/2015 – Construction of rain-water catch system to catch rainwater in a large storage container for use in the dry season
2017 – Construction of teacher housing and student dormitories
2017 – Construction of well in village near school to provide access to water
2019 – Construction of security wall surrounding campus
2021 – Construction of medical clinic to meet basic needs of students and community members
2021 – Construction of new full service bathrooms
2022 – Classroom floors re-done due to damage from normal “wear and tear”
copyright 2023 the somero project
privacy policy
terms & conditions
website design by island road creative
