Achievements
1) Foundational work in the community
Long before the official launch of The Silent Horn Foundation, our team have been dedicated volunteers in service to Deaf Somali people. In 2017, we carried out a trip to Mogadishu Somalia, successfully building ties with local school, projects, political figures and even raising a small £500 to donate to grass roots Deaf education projects.
2) Established our charity with a small team.
In 2020, we gathered a team of passionate and dedicated minds to formulate our charity, The Silent Horn Foundation in London.
3) Launched our website and donation platforms.
We launched our website to give us an online presence, we were accepted for a Charity bank account and paypal to accept donations worldwide.
4) We wrote the world's first reference work in Somali Sign language!
A great challenge of ours in our mission has been finding any materials at all for Somali sign language. We also saw a lack of modern technologies being used in the resources which do exist. So we decided to be the solution by creating a modern reference work in Somali Sign Language.
5) In 2022 we founded our first small school for vulnerable Deaf children in Somalia.
Our school serves as a beacon of hope for Deaf children from all around who come to learn Sign Language, Maths and Social studies. It also stands a hub for all vulnerable deaf people who need support.
6) Mogadishu book fair
We secured a place to present our work at the Mogadishu book fair in 2023 where we distributed over 100 copies of our materials and cemented our place as a productive organisation for crucial change among deaf Somalis.
7) London Somali festival weak
We spread awareness of our work at the London Somali Festival Weak!
8) Hargeisa book fair!
After our fantastic reception at the Mogadishu book fair, we wanted to expand our campaign efforts across the Somali community by visiting a second book fair in Hargeisa as a vehicle for social change and awareness. We were warmly welcomed and continued to cement our reputation and message across the spectrum of organisations for change.
9) We partnered with another school!
Among the fruits of our campaign work at the book festivals was a partnership we secured with another school in Mogadishu who now use our materials to empower their deaf students with the gift of communication.
10) Public activism!
Following a shameful statement from a Somali MP that "Deaf people don't need government support, as they can just use machines in their ears" (We think she meant 'hearing aids'), we decided to start taking to the streets and putting pressure on politics via media content. We have organised two demonstrations for deaf rights which have been covered by a large Somali Language Facebook page "SYL Somali TV".
11) Our first 10K run for the Deaf!
In the Summer of 2024, some of our volunteers and friends ran their first 10K in Regents Park after months of raising funds! We successfully raised over £4,000 during our campaign and all 3 of our runners completed the race! (Some of their times were better than others....)
