Supporting BOMA Through the Arts

Painting a Brighter Future

Nancy Howe is a self-taught artist who began developing her art seriously in 1988 from her rural studio in Vermont. Her paintings in oils exhibit a refined quality of realism and a quiet presence that emphasize light and strong design.

In 2007, Howe created a fundraising project, “Painting a Brighter Future for Kenyan Women,” in partnership with The BOMA Project. The project is a series of original oil paintings of the pastoral nomadic people of northern Kenya, and fine art giclée prints from these images. Proceeds support BOMA’s Rural Entrepreneur Access Project, which helps women to establish their own business so that they can care for themselves and their children. To learn more, go to www.nancyhowe.com.

Stones for Schools

Sarah Hadden traveled to Kenya in 2010 and had the opportunity to meet Kura Omar, BOMA’s Operations Director, and John Galgithele, a schoolteacher from Lengima village in northern Kenya. As a former schoolteacher, Sarah was devastated to learn about the difficult conditions of schools in northern Kenya that lack even the basic essentials: pens, paper, dictionaries and textbooks.

Sarah established the KURA Project (Kids Uniting for Rural Africa) to raise awareness and funds from U.S. students that will provide packages of school supplies for these underserved schools.

Inspired by an unusual heart-shaped stone found in the Kaisut Desert in northern Kenya, Sarah also created “Stones for Schools” to raise money for the project.  Molding silver around this magical, heart-shaped stone, Sarah is selling these one-of-a-kind pieces of silver jewelry and donating a percentage of the profits back to the schools.

The necklaces sell for $100 with 25% going to the KURA Project. Your support of this project will support the education of children who are the first in their families to attend school. For information, e-mail sdkhadden@gmail.com or call (802) 362-3354.