I have just returned from two weeks in The Gambia.

Much is changing, but not for everyone.  Not even for most.

Along the coast, there is building everywhere.  Expat money, foreign investment, and foreign aid all seem to have come back, as people see opportunity in a country where the rule of law was tenuous until the elections of 2016.  The 2021 elections were peaceful, and some candidates were not gracious in defeat, but the relative order (on a continent in which there have been five coups or coup attempts in recent months) was reassuring.  Coalition President Barrow formed his own party and won a clear majority.  Many are disappointed that he did not appoint a new, more capable cabinet, but others assured me that he is waiting until after the Parliamentary elections in April to replace the worst-performing members. 

The airport has been renovated, with a $31 million loan from the Saudis.  Not the highest priority I would have named, but they say capacity is now 43% greater which could help tourism.  Coming and going through the airport, not much seemed significantly changed other than fresh paint, with lines just as long, and much of the extra space taken up by the annoying new queue to pay, both coming and going, $20 cash to an airport security company for their services.  “Maybe the biggest improvements are behind the scenes,” I thought - better wiring, etc.  (The internet connectivity certainly was better.)  Then it hit me: the big improvements might be out of sight, for the 1^st class travelers. And once we got through customs on our way home, I asked a tour operator if he could let me see the special lounges.  He led me to a new glass elevator which went silently up to a floor with a beautiful business class lounge, and another lounge that was so exclusive that they would not let me look around.  I presume that is where visiting heads of state and yes, cabinet ministers now wait for their flights.  But when verifying my facts for this letter, I discovered that they are still not finished: there is another new building in the works: a “VVIP airport lounge” (actually a separate building) to be built for $10.5 million more.  That's where the Very Very Important People will pass through when it is done.  

And that summarizes  my overall impression after two years away: there is increasing wealth in the country but it is not broadly divided.  There is a new Mercedes dealership.  I saw several Porsche Cayenne SUVs.  The length of time it takes to drive anywhere has more than doubled due to all the additional cars. There are two Chinese-funded new bridges, in Basse (with a prominent arch in Chinese letters) and another further up the river in Fatoto, and many improved and under-construction roads.  Monkey Park has been reduced in size to build a new conference center; the National Assembly is getting a new building.  Developer Mustapha Njie is building TAF City, a new city next to Sifoe that he claims will be larger than the capital city of Banjul when complete.

If you believe in trickle-down, this should benefit everyone.  If you don’t, then you will see a society where wealth gaps are growing quickly.  If you are a bricklayer, you can find a job.  But life for most Gambians is actually getting harder.  It took me 1-1/2 hours to drive from Kotu to Sinchu Alhagie; a drive that used to be 25 minutes.  Since I lived there in 2009, the price of a baguette of tapalapa (bread) has doubled from 5 dalasis to 10.  Inflationaffects everyone.  Food inflation affects the poor the most.  And upcountry, there is no trickle down.  Just the constant pull of the coast luring young people to leave the farm. 

If there is moderately increasing opportunity in the country for the educated, but a harsher existence for everyone else, then GambiaRising's program is more important than ever.  

Let's leave the coast and head upcountry.  In the Lower River Region, after crossing the Bintang Bolong tributary of the River Gambia, turn off the South Bank Road toward Kiang National Park and Keneba.  After 15 minutes, at Kuli Kunda, turn south, into the bush and toward the bolong.  After 5 or 6 km, at the end of the road, is the village of Brikamanding.  A Peace Corps volunteer wrote to us about this village; our Coordinator Alieu Gaye, then teaching at Kuli Kunda, seconded the opinion that the children of Brikamanding were never going to go to school if we did not help.  It was too far for small children to walk to Kuli Kunda to school, and it was unlikely to ever become the government's top priority.  The villagers were willing to work to build themselves a school, but they had no funds for materials.  We began a special campaign to raise funds specifically for that purpose.  Over the last two years, as the funds were raised, a thriving school has been created step by step.  It started with two classrooms.  Then when both young teachers assigned there turned around and refused to work in such a remote location, a second campaign was launched to build housing next door to the school.  Plus an office for the head teacher.  Latrines for the children.  Fencing for a garden.  With the school now in its second year, I found a motivated and enthusiastic community, a lovely school campus, and sixty children enrolled in three grades (there are double shifts!) 

You can read more about Brikamanding at https://www.gambiarising.org/a-school-for-brikamanding.html.

Our core task is the same as before: supply uniforms and books so that young Gambians can stay in school through grade 12.  And for the special top students, pay their tuition to college or university.  But when there is no school, there is no chance to go to school.  So when we must, and when we can find the funds and a community motivated to provide the labor, we will provide the materials for a small school.  We have now funded five such communities to build themselves schools.  More than 900 students are now attending those schools in the Central River and Lower River Regions.  These schools are not dramatic to look at; and most are well off the beaten track.  But they are vital to their communities.  They provide the first step up the ladder, and not only for life in the coastal towns, but to better lives in their home villages.  Several students we helped go to Gambia College have now come back to their home village to teach.  Others have studied agriculture at the college and returned to farm in new ways with their families.  

While in the coastal towns and developments, the ceiling of what is possible is rising for some, our focus instead is to raise the floor of what life for the lowest-income Gambians can be.  We are delighted if some students go far.  But all paths to a better life, we are sure, must necessarily include an education.  That is what we do.

If you are donating to GambiaRising, thank you again.  I can definitely report that your generosity is having more impact than you can imagine.  Our Coordinators are working so hard, so creatively, and teachers in hundreds of schools are in touch with them reporting when a student leaves, or doesn't start, school.  As long as we have the resources, we'll continue to help more each year.  If you haven't donated recently, I hope you will start.  $30 per month can send a teacher candidate to Gambia College.  $3 per month can send a grade schooler back to school.  In either case, it will be life-changing.  And 100% of your contribution will be used to support students. 

Please join us.

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

1500 Park Ave PH 503
Emeryville, CA  94608