What Is SEVICS Africa? Mission, Programs and How to Get Involved
Someone types one word into a search box. SEVICS. They want to know what SEVICS Africa is and who we are. Maybe they saw a video. Maybe a friend shared a mask post. Maybe they found us through a database entry about a carved object from their grandfather’s village.
So here is a plain answer. What is SEVICS Africa? What do we do? And why should you trust us with your questions about African culture?
Let’s dig in. Shall we?
What SEVICS Africa stands for
SEVICS stands for the Society for Empowering Vulnerable Individuals, Communities and Systems. That name is a mouthful, and it says a lot. We are a nonprofit organisation. We work with young people, community organisations, businesses operating in Africa and people of African heritage in the diaspora.
Our aim is simple to say and hard to do. We want young people of African heritage to become the fullest version of themselves. We believe that journey starts with their own culture and history.
Why culture comes first
You cannot build a confident future on a history you were never taught. Many young Africans grew up learning about their continent through someone else’s textbook. They learned the dates of colonial rulers before they learned the names of their own ancestors. That gap leaves a mark.
We start with culture because culture is where identity is stored. Masks, proverbs, festivals and leadership traditions all carry ideas about who a person is and what they owe to others. When people know that, they stand differently.
The work we do
African heritage
This is the part most people meet first. We work on the conservation of cultural objects and practices. We maintain a public database of African masks, with attribution grades that show how confident we are about where an object comes from. We produce educational content, and we run the #giveitback initiative, which supports the return of artifacts to the communities that made them. We also organise group tours to heritage sites in Nigeria.
If you own a mask and want to understand it, begin with our mask identifier. If you want a broad overview, read our guide to every traditional African mask you should know.
Education
Our education work includes teacher training, student engagement, school organisational development and learning resources. We want learning to continue across a lifetime, not stop at a certificate. If you are a teacher, our learning resources on masks are a good start, and our post on teaching African masks in schools is written for you.
Leadership
We work on youth empowerment, ethical leadership, community engagement and women’s leadership. Many of our stories on this site explore how African societies shared power and held leaders accountable.
Climate action
We also work on sustainable agriculture, urban green spaces and youth climate education. We are partnering with Viable Community and ReFi Enugu on this work.
Corporate support
We provide capacity building for community based and corporate organisations. That covers governance, systems, documentation and reporting. This income also helps fund our community work. Companies that want to support heritage can read about cultural heritage sponsorship.
How to tell whether an organisation is worth trusting
Since you found us through a search, you should ask questions. Here are the questions we hope you ask of us, and of every group that claims to speak for African heritage.
- Do they credit communities and sources?
- Do they say what they do not know?
- Do they explain how they grade or judge objects?
- Do they support the return of objects taken without consent?
- Do they publish their work where you can check it?
We try to answer yes to each of these. Where we fall short, tell us.
How you can take part
- Read. Our blog covers masks, rituals, leadership and heritage from many African cultures.
- Watch. We publish films and explainers on the SEVICS Africa YouTube channel.
- Ask. Send us a photo of an object and the story you know. We will tell you what we can see.
- Partner. Schools, companies and community groups can work with us.
- Share. Pass a post to a young person who needs to see their own history.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEVICS Africa a business or a charity?
We are a nonprofit. Our corporate support work earns income that helps fund community programmes.
Where do you work?
Our heritage tours focus on Nigeria, and our audience is across Africa and the diaspora.
What we believe about masks
A mask is not just wood. It is a record of belief, craft and community. When it is separated from its story, it loses its voice. That is why we grade attributions honestly. A mask may be firmly tied to one community, or it may be uncertain. We say which, and we say why.
We also believe that heritage is not only about the past. A young person who learns the meaning of a masquerade learns something about courage, grief, authority and joy. Those lessons are as useful in a classroom in Enugu as they were in a village a century ago.
What makes our approach different
We are an African organisation writing about African culture from inside it. We do not explain Africa as a single place. We name peoples, regions and practices. We try to credit sources and communities. We aim to make our work useful to students, collectors, teachers, researchers and families who simply want to know where they come from.
Start here
If you only have five minutes, read our about page. If you want to see current work, visit our campaigns page. If you have a question, contact us.
And if you came here searching for our name, thank you. Somebody had to ask. Now tell us what you want to learn next.
