The Laly Project

 When my dad started Asmarino in 1997, he had an ambitious goal of designing a multifaceted platform for Eritreans and lovers of Eritrea to connect and collectively celebrate the culture through highlighting the work of our country's people, advocates and artists. Over the years, I've seen him develop a network of people around the world that are fiercely loyal to Asmarino's causes (and to him as a person). He has been blessed with an overwhelming amount of global support, with a reach that has translated to awareness in the greater Eritrean community, and in outlets like BBC, Bloomberg and beyond.

I remember wanting, in my unique way, to be surrounded by a similar tribe of people that I could share such a deep bond with. In 2008 I came to the realization that I was lucky to have developed my own form of these type of connections, but the epiphany came at painful cost: losing my mother to triple negative breast cancer. When she passed, I (and my family) were on the receiving end of an immense amount of love, kind words and empathy. Whether it was my extended family, friends, medical providers, my Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters (and members of other organizations in the National Panhellenic Council), colleagues or classmates who read about my journey in my Creative Nonfiction workshop at USC, it became incredibly clear that I was and am surrounded by an extremely special group of people. They all went out of their way to grieve with us, share stories and raise funds for our exorbitant medical bills. I'm not doing justice to the emotions felt when I articulate that I was floored and humbled by it all. And with the same passion we all felt back then, Rahel Sebhatu continues to be remembered as a rare and bright light to everyone who had the opportunity to know and love her. 

Now, seven years later, I'm committed to apply my learnings from my dad's example of servicing his community and my desire to ensure that my mom's positive ethic lives on through my latest endeavor, The Laly Project, aptly titled after my mom's nickname. The Laly Project aims to be a creative resource for those impacted by triple negative breast cancer through hosting dynamic events, sharing news, fundraising, launching campaigns and leveraging brand partnerships to contribute to the efforts of our charity partners. Triple negative breast cancer is a lesser seen and aggressive subtype of breast cancer and it predominantly impacts younger women and African American women. While progress is being made in this space, there's still much to be done. And you can help.

The Laly Project team is hopeful that the Asmarino community will support this effort with the same fervor that it has supported Asmarino with over the years. You can do so by sharing this story on your social networks, visiting our website, liking our Facebook page,  following us on Twitter and Instagram, and staying up to date on us by signing up for our mailing list. If you're so inclined, we're always happy to accept donations, too! 

If you want to share some words or are interested in future sponsorship opportunities, give us a shout at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We'd love to hear from you.