... and beyond

Since we began, GambiaRising's focus has been on helping young Gambians stay in school through grade 12. Among the poorest Gambians, that's something that only 3% have been achieving, so that goal is likely to keep us busy for a long time.

We consider 12 years of schooling to be a right. Whether a student was a high achiever or not, if they are willing to attend school and work hard, we want to help them do that. The life paths for those who don't stay in school are just too bleak otherwise, especially for the girls, for whom child marriage is the most likely outcome of dropping out.

Over the years, we have had more students graduating from 12th grade every year. Many of them didn't want to stop. This presented us with a dilemma. Our pledge is to do as much good as we can with each donated dollar. But if a student wants to attend Gambia College (cost: $500 per year) or the University of The Gambia (up to $1200 per year), how can we weigh the benefits of spending those amounts against our waiting list of young Gambians in need of just $40 per year to stay in school?

We decided we would prioritize all the teen-aged girls in secondary school, and after that, try to help those for whom the help would make the most impact, with one qualifier: support after grade 12 would be for only the best of the best. We would also take into account the likely effect of that further support on the larger Gambian society. A student with good test results and a strong desire to be a teacher or a nurse, wanting to study at Gambia College for three years, would be easier to say "Yes" to than someone wanting to study at UTG for four, since the total cost would be nearly three times greater. After lengthy discussion with our Gambian team, we decided that we'd consider a scholarship for the more costly program at UTG only if the student had 9 credits (or 8 in some cases for girls) in the West African Senior School Exams - that would place them in the top 3.5% of Gambian students this year. (Which also means being one of the top 400 of 13,400 test takers.)

Remember, most of those receiving those highest scores are likely to be from well-educated families, perhaps attending private schools, with tutors, laptops, etc. available to help them succeed. And not in need of financial aid. Someone from a family struggling to feed itself, without electricity in their home, working after school to help the family, and especially if we helped them just to get through 12th grade, who still ended up a top achiever, we feel compelled to find a way to continue to help study after 12th grade.

Our first college/university scholarships were given within a few years of our starting our program. This has in turn helped us build a stronger organization, as five of our Coordinators at some point received our support to study beyond 12th grade. And they now have the desire to help us to help others, as well as having the income to allow them to do so. And we've got more success stories in the works:

Whenever we talk about success stories, we have to start with Fatou Kineh Ndow, whose determined mother supported her through 12th grade by selling phone credit from her wheelchair at Westfield Circle, then turned to us for help from there. We supported Fatou Kineh through four years at UTG, where she was named Valedictorian of her class, then was awarded a scholarship to study for her Master's degree at Ohio University, and is now in her 2nd year studying for her PhD at the University of Iowa. Fatou Kineh is determined to become the first Gambian to chair the Mathematics Department at UTG, and who can doubt she will get there?

Then there is Mariama Dampha. She was a brilliant student in junior secondary school in Janjanbureh who was admitted to the boarding program at Armitage Sr. Secondary School seven years ago but, with her parents both deceased, turned to us for support . After she achieved the high test scores in Mathematics of any girl in the history of Armitage, we backed her to study public health at UTG, where she became a leader in the Student Association of Public and Environmental Health (SAPEH) as well as helping us organize a program in which UTG students were able to take an online course from Yale University in cooperation with Coursera. Mariama graduated this year and is now a Public Health Officer in the North Bank Region.

Coming into the 2020-21 school year, while we were already being swamped by appeals from mothers and students battered by the economic fallout of COVID-19, as well as from a new crop of our scholarship students with excellent test results, we were horrified to hear that Gambia College and UTG had decided to increase the severity with which they treated students who had fallen behind in their tuition payments.

Surely some of these were the best of the best, who had already studied one, two, or even three years at the College or University, and now were locked out.

So once again we raised our sights on what we knew we must try to do.

With 9 credits on her WASSCE exams, Aja was one of the country's top 100 girl students in 2019. Her mother and brother paid for her first year at UTG. But when their income collapsed this year, they advised her that she would need to find a husband. Instead, she found GambiaRising.

Fatou's father worked as a guard at a tourist hotel to support her schooling, and she graduated from Masroor Sr. Secondary School in the top 5% of Gambian students. She completed one year at UTG before COVID closed the hotel and the family's income disappeared. With our support, she has returned to class.

Jama moved from the upcountry village of Bati Njol to study at Gambia College to become a teacher. Her family cobbled together enough to pay all but $70 of her first year's tuition. But for lack of that $70, she was not allowed to start her 2nd year. Now with our support, Jama will resume studying to become a much-needed public school teacher.

Hincha's father died when she was young. When her mother then married a man in Senegal, Hincha moved to live with her grand-mother. When she was admitted to Gambia College to study agriculture, her grandmother took out a 7000 D. ($340) loan to make the first payment for her tuition. But when she couldn't pay the balance, HIncha was sent out. We've paid her arrears and she back in school, in her final year.

Kaddy studied for and received her Certificate in Agriculture at Gambia College and began her Higher Diploma program with the support of her uncle. But with one year to go in her course of studies, her uncle tried to go the "back way" to Europe and perished. Her father had an unwelcome response to Kaddy's dilemma: "I'll find you a husband". But her solution was different; she searched for support and found Gambia Rising.

Until COVID struck, Adama's extended family was able to help her retired father feed the family, and when she was admitted to Gambia College, they also agreed to pay for her to attend. But COVID changed everything and in her second year at Gambia College, she fell 3500 D ($70) short of paying her full tuition. With only one year to go to become a teacher, she was thrilled to receive support from GambiaRising.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary efforts. Some of our donors have taken extraordinary action this year and for that we are so grateful. Others have joined us for the first time, which allows us to help more students like these. Alas, some have not renewed their support. Those of you who have let us know you'll be back when you are able, we really appreciate that. As for the others, it is not too late to renew your support!

There so much pain in the world right now. It is wide spread. The world's spotlight is not likely to turn to The Gambia this year, and so once again, we are faced with the question "If not us, then who?" I believe we have become the most effective way for young Gambians seeking an education to find the help they need. And we have created a highly efficient and effective tool for those who wish to, to change a young Gambian's life. For those whose support is enabling so many to get the help they need, THANK YOU. For everyone else, if you can afford $3 a month, you can change someone's life. For $100 per month, you can send a future leader of the country to the University. Please do what you can.

Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
GambiaRising
www.gambiarising.org
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