To All Gambians and Friends of The Gambia in the Diaspora: There is already considerable interest in SAVE THE GAMBIA FUND/ ASSOCIATION, and over twenty people have pledged sums ranging from $5-$25 a month until 2006 and possibly beyond. I urge you in the name of The Gambia and its children to make a pledge immediately to Joe Sambou or I. In light of the growing interest over the FUND/ASSOCIATION, I have drafted some guidelines, a working document in progress, to provide both structure and direction for the FUND/ ORGANIZATION. Your input is important and needed to ensure that the organization is open and accountable to its membership. As Joe Sambou pointed out in an earlier email, every cent will be accounted for. Once your input is made, I, with the help of others will craft a more comprehensive document. I Encourage Gambian women and women friends of The Gambia to become members and play leadership roles. SAVE THE GAMBIA FUND/ORGANIZATION 1. PREAMBLE: The name of the organization shall be: SAVE THE GAMBIA FUND/ORGANIZATION. It is a non-profit organization and is open to all Gambians and friends of The Gambia, regardless of political orientation, race, gender etc. What unites the organization is our collective desire to support peaceful democratic change in The Gambia. 2. OBJECTIVES: It is a political interest group geared to increasing awareness about the political, social, and economic issues in The Gambia. Its explicit goal is to raise financial resources devoted exclusively to the support of a coalition opposition political party to effectively contest and possibly win the 2006 presidential election. The FUND/ORGANIZATION will also support other political activities that support our primary objective of peaceful democratic change in The Gambia. A LISTSERVE will be started and managed by members of the FUND/ORGANIZATION. Only members of the FUND/ORGANIZATION will be subscribed to facilitate discussion and decision making. This LISTSERVE is not intended to usurp nor undermine the Gambia-L or Gambia-Post, we will work collaboratively with them. 3. MEMBER PLEDGES: A pledge of $5, $10, $15, $20, $25 or more MUST be made to become a member of The FUND/ORGANIZATION. Members MUST also make the commitment to support the FUND/ORGANIZATION through 2006 and beyond. Thus, membership is contingent on a pledge and supporting the primary objectives of the FUND/ORGANIZATION. 3 B. Each member must commit to pay the amount pledged each month or quarterly to remain in good-standing. Members who fail to pay their dues for up to two months, will be suspended/delisted from the LISTSERVE. A $2 fee must be paid to be resubscribed. 3 C. All meetings, discussions, debates and decision making will be limited to members only and two-thirds of the membership must vote on all financial matters for the decision to be deemed binding. Meetings and discussion with less members can still be held but without authority to make financial decisions. One meeting (or more if sanctioned by the membership) a quarter of the entire membership is recommended. 3 D. All discussions and debates by memebers at all meetings must be conducted with respect and tolerance for each other and differences of opinion. While disagreements over issues are to be expected and encouraged, behavior deemed counter to the objectives and/or destabilizing to the organization and its membership, such as "abusive" language will not be tolerated. 3 E. Individuals who after two warnings continue to engage in activity/actions/behavior deemed by the membership as destabilizing to the objectives of the organization will, with the majority of the membership in agreement, be expelled. Expelled members are not entitled to a financial refund. 4. BANK ACCOUNT: A bank account will be established for the primary purpose of pooling and saving all pledges. The account will be managed by a "Committee of FIVE" individuals with strong accounting/ money-management experience. The Committee is required to give a quarterly statement( more if needed by membership) of the account. How the funds are disbursed, ultimately, will be discussed and decided upon by two-thirds of the membership by way of a vote. 5. OFFICERS: The main officers of the FUND/ORGANIZATION is the "Committee of five." It will oversee the account and report to the membership quarterly or as needed by the membership. B. Members of the FUND/ORGANIZATION, however, can choose to create, select, elect other officers as they deem fit. C. It is recommended that a Listserve management of four individuals be selected or elected. What do you think? Your input is needed to make it a better and more comprehensive document! Abdoulaye _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~