Hi folks,

I would like to join all of you in extending my sincere thanks and heartfelt
gratitude to Sigga Jagne and Yankuba Njie for the wonderful they've done putting
mygambia.org online.  The site is great, and will certainly serve a great and
noble cause.  May God reward you for your tireless and selfless work.

I was talking to Yankuba the other day, and promised him that I'll send him a
link to a Web site that I thought would be of help to the mygambia.org project.
The site is owned by Human Medical Relief (HMR), itself a non-profit medical
assistance organization, and has numerous links to other organizations
interested in medical assistance work.  Here's the link:
http://www.humanitarianmedical.org/links.html  Please scroll to the bottom of
the page for information about HMR.

With regards following the leads on the above page, I think it would be best to
break up the list into small groups (1 to 5 links each), and ask for volunteers
who would like to follow the leads.  This way, we will not be falling over
ourselves trying to reach these organizations, and at the same time, we'll save
them the trouble of having to answer the same questions many times over.  After
each volunteer has received responses from the organizations they chose to
contact, they can then report to Sigga, Yankuba, or whoever will be coordinating
it.

Furthermore, I suggest that someone draft a basic press release or statement
that will be sent out by volunteers who would like to contact these
organizations.  This would be one way to ensure that everyone is on the same
page, and that all organizations contacted are provided the same information and
request.  Of course, there will be room for people who follow-up with their
leads to expand on the basic statement, but at least they'll have a common
start.

I'll suggest that the statement sent out include the following:  what is
mygambia.org, a brief backgrounder about the situation that lead to the
student's plight, the present condition of the students, and what they need.  It
would also help to specify or suggest how organizations contacted can help.  And
do not forget to ask them for any leads, and other resources they would like to
recommend.  You never know when the person who can't help you knows someone who
can.

And keep the brief.  I'd say a maximum of 1 to 2 pages.  They can always contact
you if they need more information.  Which that you should invite recipients to
contact you if they want more information, and provide them phone and e-mail
contacts for this purpose.  If possible, follow-up with a phone call if you
haven't heard from them, and after giving them a week or two to respond to your
e-mail.  This will mean that volunteers should choose leads they will be able to
afford to call, if need be.

I guess that's about it. Have a great week, and keep up the great work!

Katim

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