The Somali Bantu Youth Association of Maine was established to promote programs to help Somali Bantu youths attain the necessary skills to overcome problems they face in Lewiston, Maine. Because there has been a large influx of Somali Bantus in the area, many have experienced increased violence, which in turn has led to increased smoking, theft, aggression and dropping out of high school. The problem has grown larger over time, and in the hopes of addressing some of these concerns, the Somali Bantu Youth Association of Maine was formed. All Somali Bantu youths in the Lewiston area were invited to a meeting and were presented with the idea of forming such an organization and they were pleased. When we formed the organization we started motivating the youths to participate in local and school-related programs, like academic, social and cultural adjustment support. Volunteers from the organization meet with the Somali Bantu youths individually and in groups, encouraging them to make the appropriate changes to adapt to living in the Lewiston vicinity. From these initial efforts, there have been four Somali Bantu youths who recently graduated from college and the number of Somali Bantu youths attending college has increased. Many parents are very pleased with the formation and initial results of the activities of this new organization.

Ongoing Services:

To reduce the violence in the Lewiston downtown area, the Somali Bantu Youth Association of Maine has conducted a sports program for the youth during both summer and after school hours. The organization also provides a violence prevention and cultural maintenance class for the youth. The organization also provides many ongoing services for the Somali Bantu youth, including:

Working with young Somali Bantu youths to stay in school by providing traditional one-on-one and group counseling, and
Social and cultural adjustment trainings to teach Somali Bantu youths about the differences between their culture and the United States culture, and how they can adapt.
In addition, the organization helps youth find employment, provides academic support, and offers anti-smoking, violence prevention and HIV/AIDS awareness workshops. The goal is to help the Somali Bantu youths achieve academic, social and cultural success. To learn more about this program please click here

Future Services:

In the future, the organization plans to increase and expand its current services, to add new programs such as training to manage and budget money, as the Somali Bantu youths may not be familiar with these skills. The organization will maintain exisiting programs and search for new programs to offer, based on needs of the community, to help encourage and provide good futures for Somali Bantu youths.

For additional information, click here to see the services we provide

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