HOYGAMOGADISHU · SOMALIA
Hoyga Hodan — practical learning, community, culture and opportunity.
Hoyga Hodan brings Somali women together through practical skills and entrepreneurship training, community activities, cultural experiences, networking and mentorship — creating a space where learning becomes connection, confidence and opportunity.
01WHO WE ARE
Hoyga Hodan is a Somali women-led space where women come together to learn, connect, create and thrive. We combine practical skills and entrepreneurship learning with community, culture, creativity and opportunities to build relationships.
The experience is designed around what participants value: a welcoming place to meet new people, exchange ideas, explore creativity, take part in cultural activities and leave with greater confidence.
Hoyga Hodan is not simply a training workshop. Each gathering combines practical learning with structured community and cultural activities that encourage participation, connection and belonging. Traditional games, competitions, art, music, karaoke, networking and social connection are part of the model—not an afterthought.
Participants repeatedly ask for the gatherings to happen again and ask Hoyga Hodan to bring the experience to their cities. That demand for learning, joy and connection is central evidence for the model.
When women have room to learn, share, enjoy, and be seen, they can build confidence and relationships that may open the door to future opportunity.
Our approach02OUR STORY
Somali women want spaces that make it possible to learn, meet, create, celebrate and return.
The first gatherings were made possible through $10 participant contributions, local businesses, donated services, free food and water, volunteers, discounted or free media, occasional financial support, and determined founder and team effort.
Across Eco Hub, Muniiza Hall, Dhaqan Gooob and Baraawe, Hoyga Hodan reconstructed participation at approximately 600 women—422 paid participants and 178 free participants.
The Baraawe gathering created strong happiness and connection among women participants, who repeatedly asked for more gatherings and for Hoyga Hodan to bring the experience to their cities. It remains an important example of why the model should continue and grow carefully.
Community support proved there is demand. Hoyga Hodan is now seeking more predictable institutional and strategic partnerships so future gatherings can be planned, delivered and measured with care.
03WHAT WE DO
Hoyga Hodan creates accessible, hands-on learning spaces where women can explore useful skills, entrepreneurship and creative practice alongside peers and local facilitators. Topics can include:
Each Hoyga Hodan gathering combines practical learning with structured community and cultural activities that encourage participation, confidence, connection and belonging. Depending on the gathering, the experience can include:
Learning is stronger when women can keep building relationships after a gathering. Hoyga Hodan creates room for peer networks, mentor introductions and connections to future opportunities as local partners and resources allow.
As Hoyga Hodan grows, the team plans to strengthen follow-up, participant communication and accessible learning resources—so women can stay connected to ideas, people and future opportunities after an event.
04MORE THAN A TRAINING
Hoyga Hodan’s distinctive model brings practical learning into a warm, active social space. Community and cultural activities are designed to encourage participation, confidence, connection and belonging—not simply to entertain.
Practical skills, entrepreneurship and shared ideas.
Networking, introductions, friendships and peer support.
Art, maker activities and room for self-expression.
Traditional games and friendly competitions that invite everyone in.
Music, karaoke and cultural activities that strengthen shared joy.
Relationships, mentoring connections and future opportunities where available.
THE PROGRAMME EXPERIENCE
Explore practical skills and ideas.
Meet peers and build relationships.
Take part with confidence and joy.
Make, share and be visible.
Feel more able to participate and lead.
Leave with relationships that continue.
Stay connected to future pathways as available.
05HISTORICAL TRACK RECORD
These reconstructed figures describe the first four gatherings. They are historical participation figures, not audited impact results.
9 planned events in 4 planned cities, with approximately 1,125 planned participant places at the 125-per-event planning midpoint.
WHAT THE FIRST FOUR SHOW
06PAST GATHERINGS
These are approximate reconstructed participation figures from Hoyga Hodan’s first four gatherings. Explore the gallery below for moments from the community.
participants · 59 paid · 41 free
participants · 92 paid · 58 free
participants · 140 paid · 60 free
participants · 131 paid · 19 free
07GALLERY & FILMS
Photographs and short films help show what the Hoyga Hodan experience feels like: learning, connection, culture, creativity and joy. Select any frame to view it large.
✦ Moving stories are an important part of preserving the experience. These preview loops can later sit alongside approved participant videos and community stories.
08PARTICIPANT STORIES
At the Baraawe gathering, women came together for a shared community experience. Hoyga Hodan will continue to document participant feedback and interest in future gatherings rather than present unverified outcome claims.
Hoyga Hodan will add authentic participant stories only with approval. Over time, this space can carry a participant’s video, portrait, name, city and own words—never an invented testimonial.
09OUR CURRENT TEAM
Hoyga Hodan’s current delivery model relies on a small mix of paid, project-based and unpaid roles. This is intentionally presented transparently as the organization builds capacity.
Guides the vision, community relationships and overall direction of Hoyga Hodan.
Coordinates gathering delivery, logistics and participant experience.
Supports basic financial coordination and practical learning through currently unpaid trainer contributions.
Project-based technical support, paid media support and volunteer effort help make each gathering possible.
Building capacity carefully → With institutional support, Hoyga Hodan aims to strengthen programme management, finance and administration, monitoring and evaluation, and communications.
10PARTNERS & SUPPORT
Hoyga Hodan has demonstrated community demand through a model supported by participant contributions, local partnerships, volunteers and in-kind help. The next stage is a more predictable model built with institutional and strategic partners.
Support a gathering’s practical learning, cultural activities, accessibility, delivery costs and follow-up.
Help make a welcoming learning and community experience available to women who may need a free place.
Bring a venue, food and water, training, materials, media, mentorship or market connections to the gathering.
Help Hoyga Hodan plan and deliver the next stage across four planned cities, with stronger coordination and learning.
The first four gatherings were made possible by $10 participant contributions alongside local businesses, donated services, free food and water, volunteer trainers and staff, discounted or free media, occasional financial support, and founder/team effort. That effort created momentum, but it is difficult to secure consistently. Hoyga Hodan is moving from ad-hoc community support toward strategic fundraising and is now seeking predictable institutional and strategic partners to support the next stage.
Planning capacity, not a guaranteed result. At a planning midpoint of 125 women per event, the programme represents approximately 1,125 participant places. Confirmed event dates and registration details will be shared when available.
09THEORY OF CHANGE
we create a welcoming space for practical learning, community and culture
make room for skills, creativity, traditional games and shared joy
networking, peer connection and mentor introductions where available
women can participate with greater confidence, connection and visibility
relationships can continue beyond a single gathering and open future pathways
Hoyga Hodan learns from attendance, feedback and participant experience to improve responsibly
the organization aims to support more women through careful, partner-backed growth
12WHAT WE WILL MEASURE NEXT
The first four gatherings show participation and demand. As support grows, Hoyga Hodan plans to build a simple, practical learning and impact framework rather than claim outcomes it has not yet measured.
Attendance, completion and the mix of paid and free places.
Participant satisfaction, confidence and the quality of the gathering experience.
Skills participants say they gained or want to keep developing.
New peer, mentor and partner connections made through the programme.
Business or personal action plans that participants choose to pursue.
Businesses started or improved and other economic outcomes where participants report them.
13HOW WE WANT TO GROW
Keep women’s experience, dignity, participation and connection at the centre of every gathering.
Build with Somali culture, local partnerships and the realities participants describe—not a copied model.
Separate what has happened from what is planned, and avoid claiming outcomes before they are measured.
Welcome practical partners who can help turn community demand into reliable, well-supported gatherings.
12CONTACT
Future participant, funder, partner, trainer, media collaborator or local supporter—the Hub has a place for you.
Somali women-led initiative · learning · community · culture · opportunity
Thank you — your message has been received. Our team will respond within 48 hours. For urgent matters, call +252 61 783 5462 or email hothanarts5@gmail.com.
