Good  Job
May your example be followed by other Gambian communities in the rest of the  world and in Banjul too.
Congratulations  and May God bless all that made it possible
Habib Diab Ghanim, Sr



"Jeng, Beran" wrote:

> Gambia Support Group Helps the Needy
>
> The Independent (Banjul)
>
> October 16, 2000
>
> Banjul
>
> The Gambia Support Group formed by Gambians based in Maryland-United States of
> America in 1996 is a non-profit making association out to help needy Gambian
> students and other individuals in need.
>
> The association has a scholarship component and aims to help Gambians in the
> United States and Gambian kids at home. It sponsors needy students from grades
> 7-12.
>
> In an interview with The Independent Mr. Famara Sawaneh the director of
> communications for the association who is currently on a visit to The Gambia
> said initially when the association was formed it sent information to local
> newspapers for needy students to apply and after screening they considered seven
> applicants. He said they started sponsoring those students at the beginning of
> the 1997/98 academic year.
>
> Mr. Sawaneh however said eligibility for sponsorship always has three key
> conditions; good grades, tuition fees only and not being in a private school,
> and above all-need. He further asserted that screening is normally done in
> America where none of the applicants is known to their ten member committee. He
> said they have no local representative in order to avoid 'biasness and
> favouritism during the selection process.'
>
> Mr. Sawaneh said sometime last April a new committee of ten was appointed to run
> the activities of the association. He added that the Committee replaced a
> previous one which was active until there was a break of two academic years for
> the seven sponsored students. He said the new committee went back to the records
> to review and know who were qualified for support. He further announced that
> finally some eight students will now benefit for sponsorship for the 2000/2001
> academic year. He added that because not much information is known about them,
> they decided to sensitize the people through the media.
>
> When asked about their source of funding Mr. Sawaneh disclosed that they
> solicited funds through fundraising activities in America. He also spoke about
> the association's plans of expanding the sponsorship scheme to rural areas in
> the name of decentralisation and after obtaining information as to how many
> schools there are in every administrative area. He further added that they are
> also interested in health programmes and that while in The Gambia, he was
> privileged to get in touch with an organisation called Gambia Help through its
> country representative Mathew Baldeh.
>
> He said with enough collaboration with that organisation they would be able to
> do a lot in the future. Mr. Sawaneh also spoke about his association's plans to
> get involved in technology awareness programmes.
>
> On how the association helped Gambians in America, he said they send
> contributions if a Gambian dies in America and the corpse had to be transported
> to The Gambia. He added that they also assist Gambians involved in legitimate
> legal proceedings. He also hinted that they have a day care centre for Gambian
> families where their kids would be taught about their cultural and religious
> background.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
> if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------