We currently support +6000 students

GambiaRising is run completely by volunteers, allowing 100% of donations to go directly to students.

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GambiaRising is a labor of love.
We have no offices, no paid staff.
The hundreds of people working on our program
volunteer their time.
100% of your donations will be used to support students.

Our dedicated team of Gambian volunteer coordinators know their communities well (most are experienced educators). They know the family situations, know the schools, and keep track of students' progress.

We have a team dedicated to fundraising and outreach, 
most of whom are returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former staff from Peace Corps/The Gambia.
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GambiaRising is a nonprofit organization registered as a 501(c)(3) charitable trust. Established in 2010, it focuses on providing scholarships and other educational support to students in The Gambia, primarily targeting those who would otherwise be unable to continue their education. From time to time, the organization also supports educational infrastructure in rural areas and provides fiscal sponsorship to smaller Gambian nonprofits.
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GambiaRising operates in all regions of The Gambia, emphasizing remote rural areas where financial barriers to schooling can be most pronounced. The organization works with community-based coordinators, primarily teachers, who identify local needs and distribute resources to eligible students.

Our students we are supporting vary in age from 5 years old to 26.  Three-quarters are girls, and many live far from the cities on the coast, in up-country villages where families survive by subsistence farming.  

We began informally in 2008, supporting three students. In the 2009-10 school year, thanks to the generosity of donors, we were able to sponsor 21 students.  In the next school year, that had increased to 80, then 120 the following year then 247 and 402 in the 2014-15 school year. By 2015-16, we were supporting more than 700 students, and in 2020 we crossed the 2,000 student threshold. And today, over 6000.

Every day new applications arrive so we feel we must continue to try to serve more every year. The biggest increase is coming from students in higher grades, who are, with our assistance, continuing in school past the point where they would normally have dropped out.  Some of these are exceptional students who have completed 12th grade and hope to get vocational and/or professional training (teaching, computer skills, accounting, nursing, etc.) at one of the country’s post- secondary institutions, and enter the job market with more marketable skills.