Somali and Oromo Families Shape Toolkit for Culturally Rooted Early Learning

On July 11 at the Highline College campus in Des Moines, immigrant community members and their allies set out to build and protect the memories of the next generation through an event called "Rooted in Community: From Community Voices to Community Action." The afternoon event, hosted by the nonprofit Pathways to Progress Alliance (PPA), marked the debut of a culturally grounded parenting toolkit called "Rooted in Culture, Raised With Love." Organizers hope the toolkit can guide families and providers in helping children ages 5 and under forge and honor their memories while defending the ancestral wisdom that lives and breathes within parents.

Studies show that by the time a child reaches 5, 90% of their brain has been developed. Those early years are crucial for a child's well-being and development.

"It creates a lasting impact on the child," said Rehana Abdallah, a childcare service provider who helped create the toolkit.

Throughout the event, the toolkit's creators highlighted how community members had seen a need for early learning that is culturally aware in Seattle.

"We are working to close a gap that plagues our community," said Mardiya Aga, executive director of PPA.

The toolkit was created after months of listening sessions with community members, parents, and providers, and it offers techniques that users can implement in classrooms, homes, and childcare centers. The toolkit also honors the wisdom in both Oromo and Somali parenting traditions.

"This is what we think the community needs," Aga said. "These are the things that the families and childcare providers say that they need that they would want their children to have."

The "Rooted in Culture, Raised With Love" toolkit contains lullabies, emotional regulation tools, cultural proverbs, bedtime stories, and more. The toolkit is grounded in ancestral wisdom and the knowledge that has lived throughout generations.

One of the lullabies included in the toolkit is even available on PPA's YouTube channel.

"It is important that the culture lives on. That our children know their roots," said Salma Musse, another co-designer of the toolkit. "To keep that self-awareness alive means to keep their memory alive. It is something that will last forever."

With support from a King County Best Starts for Kids grant, the toolkit was spearheaded by PPA after the nonprofit conducted a landscape analysis to better understand what the community needed. After recognizing the need for a culturally grounded resource, the organization recruited 20 parents and five childcare providers to codesign the toolkit.

PPA was created in 2024, and early on, they focused diligently on mental health in the East African community. "Our first program was a destigmatization campaign where we said we're going to get everyone together and just start talking about mental health, starting from the basics," Aga said.

As the organization heard from the community, PPA expanded its scope to address numerous issues important to community members. Aga understood that the community was at the heart of the work. "We want to build with you, not for you," Aga said.

Throughout the event, many speakers took part, including state Rep. David Hackney, state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, SeaTac Mayor Mohamed Egal, and former Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant.

There was a traditional Somali dance and poetry performance because the event was also a celebration of identity, belonging, meaning, and the persistent effort to stop cultural erasure of the next generation.

"You are not the leaders of tomorrow. You are the leaders of today." Aga stated.

The physical toolkit will be ready for distribution in two months.