Hermina Bode, known by her crew as Herma, moved to Senegal in 1974, where she fell in love with the people and culture.

She never left, and over the decades her property’s uses have evolved to meet changing needs. After raising her own four children, Herma honed her focus on her local family and community. The first phase centered on disadvantaged youth and the establishment of a school that teaches craftsmen’s skills and small-enterprise development. The goal is twofold: encouraging the development of the local culture’s products, and developing sustaining livelihoods. In the intervening years, the school has grown into an apprenticeship program that incorporates instrument building (drums, kora, and balafon), metalwork, textiles, carpentry, auto body repair, pool tables, and ship-building. What started as a grass-roots endeavor has organically developed into the organization Herma runs today: a collaborative artistic hub for local and international contributors alike.