January in The Gambia. In mid-winter, it was 104 degrees in Basse when I was there last week; what will this summer be like?
But we didn't go for the weather; we went because it was the beginning of the schools' second term, and thanks to some donors increasing their donations this year, other new donors joining us, and most importantly, so many donors donating monthly or coming through with their annual gift, we went to meet with our Coordinators and decide who else we should help go back to or stay in school.
Some of the appeals came from teachers, some came through students who we are already supporting, and all went through our Coordinators, who work in their communities and with their local schools, verifying the facts of each appeal and prioritizing their waiting lists as they await the results of our fall fundraising campaign. Most appeals are verbal but some come using our formal written application; many applicants visit in person; but a recent one came by text:
This is what our Coordinators deal with every day. I could not do their job; it is too hard. But what we CAN do is to tell these stories and do everything we can to find the funds to help more every year.
All in all, thanks to our donors, we were able to fund more than 30 new scholarships this month, ranging from children who had never been to school, all the way up to several Gambia College students who had been unable to pay their tuition and were going to be expelled when classes resumed. Here are just six of those now back in school:
Doing the work we do, especially when our donors have come through as they did this year, there are so many wonderful moments and I can't possibly share them all in a note that I try to keep readable. But bear with me while I tell you one: Jamie J. is one of our most incredible stories: out of school for several years, when she returned in 2016 she went to 10th grade at age 18. She was then promoted to 11th grade mid-year, then the next year (in 12th grade) she was named Assistant Head Girl and graduated as the Best Female Commerce Student in the school. She scored in the top 5% of the country on the national exams and asked us for support to study at Gambia College to become a teacher. We were able to say "Yes" and Jamie enrolled in September.
I decided to visit the College, hoping to find her and greet her. Fatoumata S., another of our students saw me walking onto campus and I asked where she thought Jamie might be. She asked around. "In the dorms," we were told. "The boy's dorms." A bit concerned, I said "Let's go there", and we pressed on. Coming up stairs, we found the room and saw a group of students huddled around a laptop, with the credits of a movie they had been watching rolling across the screen. "What are you watching?" I asked worriedly. "We are the Math Club, watching a short film about induction," Jamie replied, and re-wound the film to show me. "What is induction?" I asked when we were outside. "It's a kind of mathematical proof," Jamie replied, leaning over to start writing a formula in the dirt. "For example, Σ to the power of m...." "That's OK," I replied. "I can tell you are going to be an excellent teacher."
She's come a long way in two years. Thanks to the support of our donors.
GambiaRising is enabling miracles like this in every part of The Gambia. We are pleased to be expanding our program in the Upper River Region with the appointed of two new (women) Coordinators, both introduced to us by Peace Corps volunteers. It is the tireless work of these volunteer Coordinators, and the generosity and consistency of our donors, that is giving hope and genuine opportunities to so many young Gambians.
To our donors, we thank you on behalf of all these students. To those who haven't (yet) joined us this year, it is never too late. Because we are far from done.
Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee, GambiaRising
www.gambiarising.org
www.facebook.com/gambiarising
1500 Park Ave., Apt PH503
Emeryville, CA 94608-3578
P.S. Here are a few more photos from the trip:
Checking out the new Soma - Farafeni Bridge, a few days before it opened:
Meeting in Basse with Kebba Sanyang and Natoma Camara, our new Community Coordinator for the Upper River Region South:
We began supporting the education of Yaya Baldeh in 2011. After graduating from GTTI, he is now one of several former GambiaRising scholarship students who have returned to Fula Bantang to teach at the new senior secondary school our donors funded there:
We say it is hot; Fula Bantang's Rafael Jawo says it is cold:
Children at the newly-completed Korop Lower Basic Cycle School - built by the community with funds from GambiaRising donors, improved with support from Water Charity, and with benches built by the students of Fula Bantang's St. Therese's Sr. Secondary School woodworking class:
