In 2014, GambiaRising's upcountry program was in crisis. 

We had been supporting young people from the villages around the village of Fula Bantang in Fulladu West for six years, and many of them had now completed 9th grade.  But there was no senior secondary school within 10 km of Fula Bantang and most students stopped after 9th grade.  However, with our support, more and more were continuing on by moving to Janjanbureh, Bansang, or Brikamaba for 10th through 12th grade.  And that's where things got harder for the girls.  Boarding with relatives or friends of friends, the girls were at the bottom of the host family's pecking order, sharing beds, being called on to do household chores, and receiving little if any emotional support for having moved into a level of school that women in previous generations had never dared pursue. Sometimes the tension even manifested itself in the form of reported visits from jinns, who told the girls to go home and raise families.

GambiaRising supporter Jon Vallee' had begun supporting St. Therese's school in Fula Bantang after visiting the school and meeting our Coordinator Kebba Sanyang a few years earlier.  And as all these problems were becoming more and more troubling for us, Jon called with terrible news: he had been diagnosed with a rare brain disease and had just three years to live.  But Jon being Jon, he had decided he wanted to fund one big project before he left.  Jon and Kebba agreed: St. Therese's needed to build a senior secondary school.  And over next five years, the rest of the needed funds were raised, and the school was built.  Teachers' housing first, then grade 10, the next year grade 11, then 12, then science labs and the admin building. And finally, the technical workshops.  Jon lived to see the first two classes begin and to know that his vision was transforming the region around Fula Bantang.  

St. Therese's Senior Secondary School's first class graduated last June, in a ceremony covered on national TV.  And 2/3 of the first classes of students were girls.

Since the beginning, the vision for this school was not only to give a chance for young people in the area (especially girls) to stay in school through 12th grade. It was also to be sure that those who chose to stay in the area, and not move to the city, would have an education that was relevant to the lives they would live.  So in addition to a strong [Liberal] Arts and Science program, the Technical (vocational) programs got special attention.  Agriculture, home science, carpentry, nutrition, metalworking, cooking were all budgeted for.

This year, a sewing program has been added.  And it is attended by both boys and girls.  

I got back from a trip to Fula Bantang a few weeks ago, and wanted to share some photos with you because they are such good examples of what empowering local Coordinators to mold their own programs can bring.  In the U.S. GambiaRising fundraises for a team of volunteer Gambian Coordinators, guided by a common goal, but encouraged to develop and implement local versions of our program best suited for their communities.  Thus Coordinator Isatou Camara in Kaimoh created a donkey-cart school bus for a girl born with a spine deformity that prevented her from walking. (That cart/bus also doubled attendance at the school from the girl's village of Kayenga.)  And in Sinchu Alhagie, Coordinator Ebrima Sanneh has enrolled four young tailors to sew uniforms for our program at no cost to GambiaRising (we supply the cloth).  Up in Fula Bantang, Kebba Sanyang took this idea one step further: with a special donation, the school was able to purchase five treadle and five hand-cranked sewing machines. (No electricity is needed, but the skills are easily transferred to electric machines.)

And now boys and girls can learn to sew - a truly good livelihood in The Gambia.  Kebba got permission to include in their curriculum, sewing uniforms for students in GambiaRising's scholarship program.

I asked Kebba when I was in Fula Bantang this month if they were sewing uniforms for our scholarship students. He said they were not.  Yet. The second graduation ceremony from the school was about to be held, and the students' first lesson was to learn to sew graduation gowns, which will be rented to graduating seniors for 50 cents apiece. This will in turn produce a small operating fund for the service and repair of the machines.  

And then they will turn their attention to sewing uniforms for scholarship students for the September term.  This program also saves the school precious money for supplies, since GambiaRising will buy the cloth and thread. The students will gain practical experience, and GambiaRising's uniform costs will be cut in half, thereby enabling us to help more students.

In a world in which the use of funds by aid agencies and large non-profits is being increasingly questioned, I hope you can see that our focus is on doing the most good we can with every precious dollar we receive.  We have no offices; no vehicles; no payroll.  A Board member pays all overhead, including supplies and internet/WhatsApp credit for our Coordinators.  Every donated dollar is precious to us, because it can change a young Gambian's life. That is all we think about: how to help the most.

Of course, it starts with our donors.  If you have donated this year, or are donating monthly, thank you so much.  You are making such a difference.  

If you are not (yet), please join us.

Now, some photos:

Thank you for being part of GambiaRising.

Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
GambiaRising
www.gambiarising.org
www.facebook.com/gambiarising

1500 Park Ave Apt PH503
Emeryville, CA  94608-3578

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