TTM

Working with African-language speakers to create clear, locally meaningful lessons about cells, microbes, and everyday health.

At Tũnyamũ twĩ muoyo (TTM), we facilitate dialogues in African Languages centered around biological cells and the microbes that sometimes infect them. We think that supporting more dialogue in African mother tongues is an important way to nurture curiosity and appreciation of microbial sciences, and science literacy as a whole.

Why we talk about biological cells and the microbes that sometimes infect them:

According to a 2018 census of Earth’s biomass by Bar-On et al, the sum of the biomass across all organisms on Earth is approximately 550 gigatons of carbon (Gt C). Of that number, approximately 70 Gt C is due to bacteria, 12 Gt C is due to Fungi, and animals account for approximately 2 Gt C (PMID: 29784790). In addition to their abundance on the Earth, bacteria and many other microbes play many integral roles in our day-to-day life. They protect humans, plants and animals from disease, help us digest food, cause disease, make oxygen, recycle nutrients in the soil, and according to recent findings related to the gut microbiome, can influence our mood and well-being. Thus, considering their roles in our lives is of great importance.


Our agency aims to facilitate conversations in African mother tongues about bacteria and other microbes, their role in our world, and in causing disease.

Read about our projects:

Our guiding principles:

  • We aim to increase scientific literacy and understanding about our world by increasing dialogues about the microbial sciences in the languages that people speak regularly on the African Continent.
  • Languages hold culture and ways of knowing and understanding the world. Therefore, by making sure that various languages have the capacity and dynamic range to discuss technical scientific information, we increase our dynamic range of understanding in the same breath.

How we work:

We partner with both non-scientists and scientists alike to create interesting lessons and content that aims to inform general, non-specialist audiences. We also aim to leverage our experience in this field to decrease the access barrier to science translation

Learn about our Projects:

Nurturing curiosity:

Several studies have shown that students learn better and with more agency in languages that they understand. We think this principle applies to science engagement as well. So we aim to nurture curiosity and agency about the natural world by empowering people to engage with modern research findings alongside their already existing knowledge, in their every-day languages.

How do we nurture curiosity about microbes?