Ashland restaurant owner honored for charity in her home country. 'We can do a lot more'

ASHLAND — In Norah Zoummar's native Uganda, growing up as a girl often meant being denied basic access to education.

"In Uganda, especially in the villages, girls are raised to be mothers," said Zoummar, co-owner of 33 All American Diner in the Market Street Plaza on Pond Street (Route 126), in a recent interview. "They teach you chores and how to cook, but they're not raising you to go to school — most girls stop by the time they're 12."

Zoummar's efforts to help Uganda children were recognized on March 29, when she was awarded a Black Excellence Award at the State House. The award is sponsored by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, and is presented to Black residents throughout the state who make an outstanding positive impact on their community.

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Zoummar was nominated by state Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, D-Framingham, who praised Zoummar's efforts in bettering her community — both in Ashland and in Uganda.

"A common saying goes, ‘Think globally, act locally,’" Lewis said. "Norah goes a step further, making tremendous contributions to both her local community in Ashland and her first home halfway across the globe in Namwendwa, Uganda. The work of Neshlyn Children’s Foundation fuels the dreams of Namwendwa’s youth and shows all of us here in Massachusetts the huge impact that we can have if we set our minds to it."

Zoummar raises money to help underprivileged children in Uganda

In Uganda, which borders Kenya to the west in Africa, Zoummar was fortunate to be raised by politicians. They were able to pay for her education, eventually sending her off to college in England.

As an adult, Zoummar has worked to help fund education for children, especially girls, back in her home village in the Kumali district of Uganda. In 2023, Zoummar founded the Neshlyn Children's Foundation, which raises money to help underprivileged children in Uganda.

Zoummar has a GoFundMe to help fund the construction of a school in her native village of Namwendwa. She admits that the $250,000 needed to fund the school is a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing to improve the lives of children in her native country.

"I think about all this opportunity that I have — there is no country that has opportunity like the United States," she said. "Everywhere I go, I see opportunity."

She pointed out that while public education in the U.S. is free, in Uganda you have to pay for it.

"We are not used to having nice things in Uganda, we are used to having everything secondhand because that is what we can afford," Zoummar said. "It only costs about $70 to send someone to school in my village, so I thought to myself if we can build a school, we can do a lot more than just send 20 or 30 students to school, which is what we are doing now."

Zoummar donates all of her diner tips to suuport Ugandan children

Zoummar, who lives in Milford, is best known in MetroWest as co-owner of 33 All-American Diner, which she operates alongside her husband, Peter. The diner opened in 2014 on Waverly Street in Framingham, but moved to Ashland two years later.

"When we first opened, I couldn't even crack an egg," Peter Zoummar said. "It was all about learning on the go. I've always kind of wanted a restaurant, and so the opportunity came and I really went for it. I used to have an office job at State Street in Boston, (but) I'd never worked in a kitchen before."

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Norah Zoummar worked behind the register during the restaurant's early days. Still new to America, she struggled with the currency, but said she came to enjoy being able to meet and talk to new people.

"I really love seeing the people," she said. "I love asking where they are from, and they ask where I am from and people are very fascinated," Zoummar said. "People are usually surprised I speak such good English, and I have to remind them that we speak English in Uganda."

At the diner, all of Zoummar's tips are donated toward helping students in Uganda, and a percentage of all gift card purchases is dedicated to the Neshlyn Children's Foundation.

Zoummar was shocked to learn that the work she was doing would be seen as noteworthy enough to win a Black Excellence Award.

"For me it is normal to help people," she said. "I want the people where I come from to have something, to have a brighter future, so I always thought about donating the tips that I make to helping those children, that has been normal. When they told me I was going to get this award, I was shocked that I would be recognized for doing this."

Zoummar is also an accomplished recording artist, under the stage name Neshlyn, which was the impetus for her foundation's name.

"I've been singing since I was a little kid, it was always something that I loved to do," she said. "I hope that it can help the people in my village, even if it is just a little bit."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Ashland diner owner donates to educate children in her native Uganda