Schools are now open across The Gambia and our entire team has been working tirelessly to help as many students as our income will allow. Thanks so much to those who donate monthly and/or donated before October; it made such a difference. There is still much to do so I'll keep this note short. But I want to share two great examples of how GambiaRising works, and why I hope you will realize just how impactful your gifts are.

Ismalla Cham is a teacher at Jahanka Basic Cycle School, located between his home in Galleh Manda and the border with Senegal (Casamance).  Introduced to us by a donor, he has been working as part of Kebba Sanyang's team in Central River Region for many years and I always look forward to seeing him when I visit Fula Bantang each year. 

As always, we start by funding all our scholarships for students we supported last year.  Then we take care of those new cases in grades Nursery to 12.  And then we turn to college and university applicants.  Mid-way through the evaluation of college applications, I received this text from Ismaila:

Dear Mike, This is Begay ___. She is supposed to be in the 7th grade. She came to the our headmaster's office with this old man crying bitterly. According to the old man, he said Begay's father was a very close friend to him during his lifetime. He said when Begay's father knew that he was seriously ill and he will not survive his sickness, he called him and told him I know I will die but if I die please look after my family for me. He said the entire members of the family cried seriously after he uttered this statement. Shortly after his death, Begay's mother told her daughter that since your father is dead now you will leave school and get married because I can't afford to provide your needs in school as I am a widow and am poor. When her mother told her this, Begay went to the man her father entrusted his family to before he died. She told her father's friend that she is determined to complete her education and she does not want to be a drop-out. The man escorted her to the school to appeal to the school headmaster if he could have someone to help Begay to prevent her from being a drop-out. He said his late friend entrusted him to look after his family prior to his death.  He had the intention to support Begay but he also is extremely poor. Shortly after the old man narrated the whole story about Begay, the school headmaster called me into his office and asked if we could help Begay. While we were all in the headmaster's office Begay cried seriously even (by looking at her face in the photos you will realize that she was crying).

This is how GambiaRising works.  Ismaila was not in an office in the city or even in a nearby town.  He wasn't riding in an air-conditioned vehicle to "important" meetings.  He was in a village school, teaching, and enrolling several dozen students from surrounding schools and villages in our scholarship program.  Other teachers and administrators in the area became aware that if there was a child in need of help, he is the person to call.  Within 24 hours, Ismaila had proposed a budget, Kebba Sanyang had approved it, Ismaila had the funds, and Begay was back in school. 

For many years, we worked through a network of Coordinators personally known to me.  Kebba Sanyang was the first, introduced to us by a Peace Corps volunteer.  Ebrima Sanneh and Maimuna Baldeh were students whose professional education we sponsored.  I worked with Lamin Cham at Peace Corps,  and  Ebrima Minteh and Ebrima Sanneh interned there when I was Country Director.  Kebba's wife Isatou Camara and Ebrima Minteh's wife Mariama Jallow, both teachers, soon joined.  I think of our organization as a bit like a franchise; with each Coordinator managing their program a little differently, but within the same strict guidelines, principles and reporting requirements.  But after some time, as more donations allowed us to help more students, anyone who was working in more than one or two schools identified a lead person at that school to work with.  I call these School Coordinators. 

Tumani is originally from the Upper River Region village of Barrow Kunda. Recently, he came to Ebrima Sanneh to tell him that family issues required him to re-locate back to his home village.  The Ministry had agreed to transfer him back to Barrow Kunda Lower Basic School. But when he had visited he had been shocked at the number of young people there who were not in school.  Was there any possibility that GambiaRising could help? 

Now this is where you come in. Because our current donors, donating the same amount year after year, are the foundation of our program -- they allow us to support students year after year after year.  But to support new students requires new income, not one-off gifts but income that we can count on year after year as well.  

Luckily several donors did increase their giving this year, and a few new donors joined us. So as we budgeted for the new school year, we were able to squeeze Barrow Kunda into the program.  Tumani got to work.  First, he bought cloth for uniforms.  Then books and supplies. When he moved up country, he took them along with him.

Meanwhile, the students were measured for uniforms so they could be sewn by a local tailor.  When they were ready, a small ceremony was held to talk about the importance of education and to celebrate these students being able to join their peers to study.

And because he had been working with Gambia Rising for six years, Tumani knew that we would love some photos of the students !

When our mailboxes and phones are filled with desperate appeals for money these days, I am not going to add to that load.  But I do want to tell those of you who are contributing, that your generosity is changing more lives every day. There is no doubt that the 40 girls and boys who went back to school in Barrow Kunda with our support this year will have better lives as a direct result. And every penny of your donations went directly to the uniforms and supplies that they needed.

Thank you for being part of GambiaRising.

Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
GambiaRising.org
 
1500 Park Ave.  # 503
Emeryville, CA  94608