USAID/ASHA $291,000 grant for Abaarso School expansion

On 24 December 2014, Somaliland Sun reported that the US non-profit Horn of Africa Education Development Fund (HED) and Abaarso School announced an agreement with USAID's Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA). According to the report, ASHA, through HED, gave Abaarso a $291,000 capital grant.

Somaliland Sun reported that the grant would be used to expand the school and serve more students with additional classrooms, dorms, computer labs and staff housing. That list describes construction works, but the report names no contractor, no procurement method, no contract value, no architect or engineer and no construction schedule. The $291,000 is not presented in the report as the total project cost or as the full cost of the expansion.

What the report attributes, and to whom

Abaarso Headmaster Jonathan Starr was quoted saying USAID would pay for the school's expansion to serve up to 250 students each year, and that with ASHA's backing far more Somali students could benefit from an Abaarso education. That "up to 250 students each year" figure is a stated target in his quoted claim, not a verified enrollment figure.

HED Chairman Anand Desai was quoted saying HED and Abaarso School had moved from privately funded startup non-profits to securing an agreement with USAID. ASHA Director Katherine Crawford was quoted saying ASHA was proud to fund the expansion, and that educating Somali youth was essential to drive jobs and growth in what she described as an economically depressed region. Somaliland Foreign Minister Mohamed B. Yonis was quoted saying Somaliland welcomed USAID in joining the partnership.

The report itself is attributed by Somaliland Sun to Mary Frances Duffy of the Dilenschneider Group. Somaliland Sun also reported that Abaarso School of Science and Technology is a non-profit intermediate and secondary school located in Abaarso in Somaliland, that it was founded in 2009 by Jonathan Starr, a one-time financial executive, and that Starr invested half a million dollars of his own money. Somaliland Sun reported that within five years the school had sent 29 of its graduates to U.S. colleges and prep schools, naming MIT, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon and Amherst among the institutions that accepted them.

What the 2014 report does not establish

The report carries one date, 2014-12-24. It does not say when the agreement was signed, when the grant was awarded or disbursed, or whether the $291,000 was spent. Somaliland Sun's report does not state that construction began, that a contractor was appointed, or that any classrooms, dorms, computer labs or staff housing were built or completed. It does not confirm current enrollment, current funding, or the status of the expansion after the date of publication.

No primary award or grant document from USAID/ASHA or HED accompanies the report. No independent source in it corroborates the $291,000 figure, the 29 graduates, or the half-million-dollar investment. The 2014-12-24 report is an announcement of an agreement, attributed to the parties named above, not evidence of works delivered.