Leadership

Hamisi D Juma (President & CEO)

My name is Hamisi Juma. I came to the U.S. in 2010 as a refugee, after spending 6 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania. During my time in the refugee camp, I was a youth supervisor at the camp’s Youth Center. This program was established by different community members, including myself. Because of the difficult situation in the camp, most of the youth were involved in drugs, alcohol, and experienced early pregnancies.

After I resettled in the U.S. I became concerned, as I saw most of the African immigrants struggling with many of the same issues they were challenged with in the refugee camp. I became desperate for a way to help them. My question was how, when, and where can I find the resources and a place to help them? I investigated various non-profit organizations but none seemed to fit the exact needs of my community.  It was then that I reached out to other concerned immigrants and refugees like myself. We worked together to create Safari Youth Club - an organization committed to supporting youth in creating  purposeful, successful lives as New Americans. 

Initially, I started a soccer program as a vehicle for bringing youth to the program, because most of our youth love to play soccer! We started with 18 kids, and by 6 months we had 60 kids. We always use the soccer program as a way of getting their interest, so we can give them a message about the possibilities for their future life. During this time we started to get to know each other better, and I realized they needed help with their academics, especially Mathematics and English. Often, when children arrive as refugees, the school places them in age appropriate classes but this can be a challenge for our youth because they have typically missed out on school and don’t always have the educational basics to succeed at grade level. This makes it so hard for youth to integrate and succeed in school. They feel adrift and lack confidence. 

After as little as a year, running this program, we saw the impact of the Safari Youth Club After School Program. Children were learning, decreasing the knowledge gap, gaining confidence and thriving. Soccer practice and coaching has even helped some of our talented youth gain college scholarships.

“As a refugee, Hamisi took the opportunity to help and empower young refugees and immigrants to reach their goals. In response to the lack of supervision of refugee and immigrant youth, Hamisi started the after-school program in order to keep them busy, and stay out of trouble. He ran the program for 2 years without any grants or financial assistance. He supported the program with his own money and a passionate desire to help this generation succeed. The organization started with just 18 people, today the count is more than 70 kids. This growth happened as a result of his efforts to mentor our youth and provide needed academic and other support. His goal is to help our community and see this generation succeed, become well integrated in their new environment and experience educational and personal success as young adults.” – Haji Juma