School's Out in The Gambia: a school-year-end report
July, 2014
“Education is an escalator that can change the world….” – Nicholas Kristoff
GambiaRising began while I was Country Director for Peace Corps The Gambia. For technical reasons, just before I arrived Peace Corps Washington had canceled a scholarship fund started by Volunteers, and the Gambian staff fittingly started routing all the applications to my desk. A couple of U.S. friends offered to pay the school fees for several students who had been kicked out of school for non-payment of school fees, and by the time I left they and several others and I were supporting the education of ten students.
When I returned to the U.S. after my 2-1/2 year tour in The Gambia, three returned Peace Corps Volunteers and I formally organized GambiaRising as a charitable trust, were granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS, and sent out a note to some friends asking them to join us so that more deserving students could be helped. By the end of 2010, we were supporting 26 students.
Since then we have focused on four operating principles:
Our focus on students most in need has led directly to a natural skewing of the program toward girls, particularly after they reach puberty. This is the age at which girls traditionally are "given in marriage" and it is especially crucial up country, where there are fewer senior secondary schools, and where going to 10th grade usually means leaving home, boarding with distant relatives or friends of family, and attending a school with few or no others from your home village. It is also the age at which many families feel they have "done enough" for their daughter, who traditionally after marriage will join her husband's family. 80% of the students we supported in senior secondary school this school year were girls.
We are very grateful that as we have grown the capacity of the organization, the number and consistency of donors has kept pace. In 2013, 56 people donated $100 or more to GambiaRising. More than half of those made monthly donations of $12.50 to $50. These relatively small monthly donations, because of their consistency, allow us to commit to support a student before we have all the funds they will need. And these smaller donations really add up: our current run rate is $7,000 per year. We are so hopeful that this number will increase in the coming school year.
We increasingly have focused our efforts in the U.S. on communication, fund raising, setting operational principles, and oversight. The generosity of friends (and friends of friends) expanded our annual donations to $37,085 last year. By focusing on helping those most in need, careful allocation of funds, and aided by a weaker Gambian dalasi, we were able to expand the number of students supported in 9th grade and higher by 22% last year, and, helped by a World Bank subsidy of school fees in grades 1-6, which cut the cost of supporting a student in those grades in half, we were able to support nearly twice as many students in grades K through 9. In all, 247 students were able to stay in school in the just-completed school year who would not have been able to without our support. And 3/4 of those were girls.
As you can see, we are getting a lot done with the funds we receive. Part of this is focus, part of this is zero overhead, and part of this is excellent and selfless dedication and prudent attention to detail on the part of our Gambian team.
As you can also see, we are counting on those who have been supporting us to continue to do so. But times are not getting easier in The Gambia and we know we are going to have more applications than ever in the coming school year. During the last school year we added 54 students to our rolls after November 30th alone. We try to keep a low profile and avoid publicity but at schools where we already support students, Principals and teachers inevitably call to tell us of a promising student about to be expelled for non-payment of fees. Or, in one case, a college student we supported found four students in his neighborhood not in school and, with our backing, got them all enrolled. To keep costs down, his brother, an apprentice tailor, even made their uniforms – we simply purchased the cloth.
I really hesitate to use the words “we” and “our” in writing this update, since I see “us” as an efficient and honest channel between donors and the student(s) they support. It is really all about the students, and we seek to simply be effective conduits. We try whenever possible to put a face on where the money is going and what it is doing, because the students are what everything is about. They were simply born in the wrong place, and they deserve an education. We are not changing the conditions in which they live, not shortening the distance they have to walk to get to school, not lowering the ever-increasing heat of the west Africa sun (it was 102° in Janjanbureh last week). But together, we are giving them a chance to grow up, learn to read, write, do math, learn about their bodies and about the world, spend time with their peers, gain self-esteem, and simply have the things that as Americans we take for granted as basic human rights. They, and others on our too-long waiting list, are counting on us.
On behalf of these wonderful young people, I invite you to join us in the coming school year and to give someone who has nowhere else to turn, a chance to go to school.
Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
“Education is an escalator that can change the world….” – Nicholas Kristoff
GambiaRising began while I was Country Director for Peace Corps The Gambia. For technical reasons, just before I arrived Peace Corps Washington had canceled a scholarship fund started by Volunteers, and the Gambian staff fittingly started routing all the applications to my desk. A couple of U.S. friends offered to pay the school fees for several students who had been kicked out of school for non-payment of school fees, and by the time I left they and several others and I were supporting the education of ten students.
When I returned to the U.S. after my 2-1/2 year tour in The Gambia, three returned Peace Corps Volunteers and I formally organized GambiaRising as a charitable trust, were granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS, and sent out a note to some friends asking them to join us so that more deserving students could be helped. By the end of 2010, we were supporting 26 students.
Since then we have focused on four operating principles:
- A clear focus on scholarships for students who without our help would not be able to stay in school;
- Using 100% of all donated funds directly for student support Marilyn and I are paying for our low overhead (which is primarily travel and supplies); everyone in the U.S. and The Gambia working on the program volunteers their time;
- Building the capacity of the on-the-ground organization of Gambians so that those closest to the students are making the key operational decisions. Father Moses Drammeh is our National Coordinator, Kebba Sanyang (Principal of St. Therese’s School in Fula Bantang) manages all upcountry operations, Lamin Cham at Peace Corps is a vital communication link, liaison with Peace Corps, and IT czar, and Dawda Faye and others at the Catholic Education Secretariat provide invaluable liaison and accounting services with the critical support of the Catholic Education Secretary, Dr. Emil Kujabi. Last but not least, Yaya Sonko, Matthew Gomez, and Ebrima Bah are providing vital help with communications.
- Growing organically through an expanding network of repeat donors, without foundation grants.
Our focus on students most in need has led directly to a natural skewing of the program toward girls, particularly after they reach puberty. This is the age at which girls traditionally are "given in marriage" and it is especially crucial up country, where there are fewer senior secondary schools, and where going to 10th grade usually means leaving home, boarding with distant relatives or friends of family, and attending a school with few or no others from your home village. It is also the age at which many families feel they have "done enough" for their daughter, who traditionally after marriage will join her husband's family. 80% of the students we supported in senior secondary school this school year were girls.
We are very grateful that as we have grown the capacity of the organization, the number and consistency of donors has kept pace. In 2013, 56 people donated $100 or more to GambiaRising. More than half of those made monthly donations of $12.50 to $50. These relatively small monthly donations, because of their consistency, allow us to commit to support a student before we have all the funds they will need. And these smaller donations really add up: our current run rate is $7,000 per year. We are so hopeful that this number will increase in the coming school year.
We increasingly have focused our efforts in the U.S. on communication, fund raising, setting operational principles, and oversight. The generosity of friends (and friends of friends) expanded our annual donations to $37,085 last year. By focusing on helping those most in need, careful allocation of funds, and aided by a weaker Gambian dalasi, we were able to expand the number of students supported in 9th grade and higher by 22% last year, and, helped by a World Bank subsidy of school fees in grades 1-6, which cut the cost of supporting a student in those grades in half, we were able to support nearly twice as many students in grades K through 9. In all, 247 students were able to stay in school in the just-completed school year who would not have been able to without our support. And 3/4 of those were girls.
As you can see, we are getting a lot done with the funds we receive. Part of this is focus, part of this is zero overhead, and part of this is excellent and selfless dedication and prudent attention to detail on the part of our Gambian team.
As you can also see, we are counting on those who have been supporting us to continue to do so. But times are not getting easier in The Gambia and we know we are going to have more applications than ever in the coming school year. During the last school year we added 54 students to our rolls after November 30th alone. We try to keep a low profile and avoid publicity but at schools where we already support students, Principals and teachers inevitably call to tell us of a promising student about to be expelled for non-payment of fees. Or, in one case, a college student we supported found four students in his neighborhood not in school and, with our backing, got them all enrolled. To keep costs down, his brother, an apprentice tailor, even made their uniforms – we simply purchased the cloth.
I really hesitate to use the words “we” and “our” in writing this update, since I see “us” as an efficient and honest channel between donors and the student(s) they support. It is really all about the students, and we seek to simply be effective conduits. We try whenever possible to put a face on where the money is going and what it is doing, because the students are what everything is about. They were simply born in the wrong place, and they deserve an education. We are not changing the conditions in which they live, not shortening the distance they have to walk to get to school, not lowering the ever-increasing heat of the west Africa sun (it was 102° in Janjanbureh last week). But together, we are giving them a chance to grow up, learn to read, write, do math, learn about their bodies and about the world, spend time with their peers, gain self-esteem, and simply have the things that as Americans we take for granted as basic human rights. They, and others on our too-long waiting list, are counting on us.
On behalf of these wonderful young people, I invite you to join us in the coming school year and to give someone who has nowhere else to turn, a chance to go to school.
Mike McConnell
Managing Trustee
