Our Story: Guidance, Service and Hope

In 2017, a small group of young Somalis in Mogadishu made a decision that would change thousands of lives. They did not wait for someone else to fix Somalia's problems. They picked up whatever little they had and went straight to the people who were suffering. That decision became Tusmo Youth Development Organization, and every year since, they have kept that promise.

Where It Began: A Nation in Crisis

In 2017, Somalia was living through one of the worst droughts in its modern history. Families were being pushed out of their homes across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people had nothing left, no food, no clean water, no shelter, and very little hope. Entire communities were collapsing under the weight of the crisis, and the wider humanitarian system was stretched far beyond its limits.

It was in this environment, on 21 July 2017 in Waberi District, Mogadishu, that a group of passionate young Somalis asked themselves a hard question: what is our role in this? Their answer was not to wait. They formed Tusmo, a name that means Guidance or Direction in Somali, and they went directly into the camps where people were suffering most.

The Struggle Nobody Saw

What people see today are photographs of food packages, classrooms and smiling children. What they do not see is how hard the early years actually were.

Tusmo has never had paid staff at the community level. Every volunteer, from the founders to the newest recruit, has given their time for free. There was no comfortable office, no steady income, and no guarantee that the organization would survive its first year, let alone grow into what it is today. The first classroom of the Hiil Waxbarasho education programme was not a classroom at all. It was bare soil under the shade of a single tree, with a chalkboard nailed to a sheet of metal wall, and thirty children who simply wanted to learn.

There were no desks. No notebooks. No pencils. Just volunteers who believed that children who had lost everything to war and drought still deserved an education, and were willing to teach with nothing but a chalkboard and their own time.

Raising resources as a young, unpaid, unknown organization in a country already flooded with humanitarian need was, and still is, one of Tusmo's hardest daily struggles. Every food package, every notebook, and every piece of clothing distributed since the beginning has had to be fought for, one small donation and one volunteer sacrifice at a time.

"If you truly care about your community, no payment is necessary." This belief carried Tusmo through its hardest years, and it still guides every volunteer who joins today.

How Tusmo Answered the Struggle

Rather than being defeated by a lack of resources, Tusmo's founders built something rare: total consistency. Many organizations respond to a crisis and then disappear once the cameras leave. Tusmo made the opposite choice. It committed to showing up every single year, no matter how difficult conditions became, and it has kept that promise without interruption ever since.

• The Ramadan Iftar programme has run every year since 2018, without exception.
• The Eid clothing programme has run every year since 2018, without exception.
• The Hiil Waxbarasho free education programme has operated continuously since 2018.

This reliability, built one difficult year at a time, is what has earned Tusmo the trust of the communities it serves in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa.

From a Tree to a Classroom: The Hiil Waxbarasho Story

The story of the Hiil Waxbarasho education programme is the clearest picture of how Tusmo turns struggle into progress. It began in 2018 with orphans and displaced children sitting on bare ground, learning under a tree. Year after year, it grew. Tusmo acquired a small building. Volunteers added benches, then proper desks and chairs, then a real blackboard. Notebooks, pens and Qurans were provided to every student. Formal graduation ceremonies were later held inside mosques, where children who never expected to be educated received official certificates.

Over the years, more than 1,500 students have passed through Hiil Waxbarasho classrooms. Not students at a well-funded school, but orphans and displaced children who had nothing else. In 2020, the programme expanded to Kismayo with a fully furnished classroom.

Feeding Families Through Every Ramadan Since 2018

The Ramadan Iftar programme is Tusmo's oldest continuous humanitarian commitment. Every year since 2018, without exception, Tusmo has made sure displaced families and orphans in Mogadishu's IDP camps do not break their fast without a proper meal. Volunteers arrive early, cook full meals over open fires inside the camps, and distribute both hot food and take-home packages of rice, oil, flour, sugar, dates and juice. Cash distributions are also made so families can choose what they need most.

Year after year, this programme has grown, supported in part by partners including IHED Germany and the Turkish Islamic Foundation ISK Bonn.

Giving Every Child a Reason to Celebrate Eid

For families in IDP camps with no income, Eid can be a painful reminder of everything lost. Since 2018, Tusmo has made sure that does not have to be true for the children it serves. Every Eid, orphans, displaced children and Hiil Waxbarasho students receive new clothing, shoes and gifts in branded Ururka Tusmo gift bags. In 2022, this grew into a full community celebration at Rihaam Hall in Mogadishu, complete with balloons, music, food and gift packages, giving many children their first proper Eid celebration.

Healthcare Where There Was None

In 2019, Tusmo confronted another hard truth: mothers and children in Mogadishu's IDP camps had no access to medical care at all. The organization trained female volunteers, paired them with healthcare professionals, and sent them directly into the camps wearing medical coats and carrying illustrated flipcharts. Because many mothers had never had formal schooling, these visual charts taught maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, infant care and hygiene in a way that did not depend on literacy. Through a partnership with IHED Germany, the programme also expanded to Kismayo and Baidoa, and helped train 100 healthcare workers in Baidoa.

Rebuilding Somalia With Our Own Hands

In 2020, as the world faced COVID-19, the Federal Government of Somalia launched a national initiative to restore damaged public institutions in Mogadishu, including the National Library and National Theatre. Tusmo volunteers put on high-visibility vests and worked side by side with other groups, clearing rubble and debris by hand, without pay or recognition. The campaign's slogan captured the spirit of the organization: "Support Your People, We Can Do Without Foreign Hands."

In recognition of this contribution, the Federal Government of Somalia officially named Tusmo the Best Organization in Somalia 2020, its first major national recognition.

Sport, Youth and Belonging

Idle youth in Mogadishu face real risks: recruitment by criminal or extremist groups, and the slow damage of hopelessness. Tusmo has organized multiple football tournaments, providing branded kits and equipment, giving young men across neighborhood lines a structured, positive reason to come together while spreading messages of education and community responsibility.

Tusmo in Numbers

What We Believe

Where We Go From Here

Tusmo has proven its model year after year of uninterrupted work since 2017. The next five years are about scale, not survival.

Our Location

Maka-almukarama Street, Waberi District, Mach Village
Mogadishu, Banadir Region, Federal Republic of Somalia

Officially registered with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Federal Republic of Somalia. Reg. Ref: WDHI/AG/370/2018, dated 19 August 2018.