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It is Ramadan, and 90% of Gambian adults are neither eating nor drinking from sunrise to sunset. It is also a few months from the end of the school year. So we can relax, ... right?
Quite the opposite.
Although things will pick up closer to Koriteh (the feast and festival at the end of Ramadan), right now business is slow for Gambian tailors, and cloth sellers. So as funds come in, we are funding our volunteer coordinators to start buying cloth and measuring students for the new school year's uniforms. After all, 6th and 9th grades have the highest drop-out rates, simply because new uniforms are required to start at a new school for 7th or 10th grade. What better way to make sure a student will come back than to give them their new uniforms before summer break !
Jainaba Boye, Headmistress of Madina Tunjang school went to Bansang with our coordinator Ismaila Cham, to buy cloth for "her" students. (It is a cash economy, and the largest dalasi bill is 200 dalasis (about $3), so yes, that is a wad of cash in Ms. Boye's hand.)
From nursery through 12th grade, our "scholarships" mostly take the form of uniforms and books, which are the primary costs of going to school. We were delighted when several donors made sure that we had some early funds to buy books in March and April. That got us at least 20% more books for our money. In Soma, a bookseller has agreed to give us a discount and also to store them at no cost until we need them. In Kombo, Ebrima Sanneh has built a storeroom next to his brother's tailor shop. For an organization with no paid staff, it is heartwarming to see so many people pitching in to help their country's students.
Meanwhile, Maimuna Jallow, the track start we wrote about in our last newsletter, is no longer training on Kotu Beach. After the newsletter, several donors pitched in to pay for her to train in Dakar. It's not fancy (she's sharing a bed with two Senegalese runners), but she has access to a real track, and can train at Dakar's PowerHouse gym.
I'll close by thanking those donors who make all this possible, and the tireless Gambian volunteers who carry out our program, and I urge anyone who hasn't donated recently to please join us.
As we start budgeting for the new school year, the fact is this: we will be able to help more students this year only if more people join us. $3 per month will fund a scholarship for a young Gambian for a full school year. $25 per month will fund a scholarship at Gambia College for a future teacher. $60 per month will fund a student at the University of The Gambia.
Want to change someone's life? This will do it.
Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
GambiaRising
www.gambiarising.org
1500 Park Ave. #503
Emeryville, CA 94608