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 Gambia
is a small West African country that is surrounded by Senegal and the
Atlantic Ocean. The country consists of a relatively narrow strip along
the Gambia River. Gambia is about 320 km long and only several tens of
kilometers wide.
The population lives mainly
on agriculture, fisheries and the modest tourist industry. In urban
areas, people have no opportunity to live on agriculture, making it
difficult for them to provide for their daily meal. In the villages the
people can only work on the land for a few months each year in the rainy
season, the rest of the year it is too dry. The population is largely
illiterate, making it almost impossible to find work as a civil servant
or in the tourist industry. Unfortunately there are hardly any other
forms of employment in the Gambia. This means that a large proportion of
the population can hardly or insufficiently provide for their own
living. The result is that many people (especially children) weakened by
poor food, easily get sick, have no money for medicines and die at a
very young age.
Goal of Foundation-OOG & GHF
Moved by these
conditions, Stichting OOG in the Netherlands and the partner
organization GamHold Foundation (GHF now) in the Gambia, were founded in
2007. These foundations are active in providing basic education to
adults, especially women. Teaching them reading, writing and
calculating/arithmetic gives them a greater chance of improving their
living conditions. In addition to education, we help in the set-up and
support of profitable projects, including a vegetable garden. By this
combination of education and generating income we hope to achieve a
lasting involvement in the projects by the women as well as the men. So
the parents are not only better able to motivate their children and
assist them in learning, but they can also earn money to buy food and so
they and their children will not have to sit in class with an empty
stomach.
How we work
 Stichting-OOG
& GHF started their work in the village of Sanyang, located in western
Gambia. Meanwhile, the work expanded to include a project in
the interior region Kiang
Central.
In all African
villages, the village leadership is important. The Alkalo (a sort of
mayor) is the most important person. He is assisted by the Council of
Elders, the VDC (Village Development Committee) and the Council for
Older Women.
Furthermore in larger
villages for example district groups are formed consisting of young
people or women.
Will a project succeed it
must be embedded in the village. To achieve this, Stichting-OOG & GHF
have been meeting with all stakeholders from the very beginning. In
these meetings, issues are discussed, solutions are sought, agreements
are made and new things are put in motion.
As most women are (still)
illiterate, it is of great importance that the leadership of a village
and the garden are supporting the project and help the women to
understand what is expected of them.
Stichting-OOG & GHF find it
important that in the end people learn to be independent of our help to
improve their own living conditions therefore we demand a commitment and
input from the villagers themselves.
Stichting-OOG supports a
project with sponsorship money and GHF supports the project with its
knowledge. GHF guides the participants in the project on site and is
responsible for the overall organization and monitors progress towards
independence.
Ultimately,
the village is responsible for the success of the project.
How do we realize this
With the support
of individuals, organizations and companies we are able to finance and
invest in the day-to-day running of the projects.
When we face a large
purchase, we ask subsidies from larger organizations such as NCDO and
Wilde Ganzen in order to finance this.
Only with your support we can
continue
It is a long way toward sustainable
development which can only be made by means of financial support.
Until the participants of the
projects are able to improve their living conditions without help our
support
will
be necessary.
You can donate your gift
into account number 58.47.55.263 of the ABN
AMRO bank in
the name of “Stichting-OOG”, Overasselt
BIC-code : ABNANL2A
IBAN code : NL81ABNA0584755163
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