As the rains flooded the village of Nema Kunku, The Gambia, Claudiana Cole, the Minister of Basic Education and Secondary Education, announced that Gambian schools will have a staggered reopening starting October 14. The schools had been closed since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have stayed here for more than 20 something years, but I have never seen this type of rain,” explained Buba Camara, president of the Baobab Youth Development Association (BYDA), in Nema Kunka. BYDA administers Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership (POHGEP) scholarship program in water-logged Nema Kunku and we have already forwarded the money for the education of the 18 children in the scholarship program by borrowing from our library program.

However, we need your help to replenish that account.

For only $75, your donation will provide your child: an uniform, shoes, lunch (for the year), exercise books, book rental, study fees, and a school bag. We will send you a thank you video from your child. This will be the first year that we will use video to send a thank you note. However, if you prefer a letter, will send you a letter.

All of our children are in need, but the floods have only compounded the problems with going back to school. Your donation will not only ensure a needy child another year of education, but allow his or her family to use their meager resources to rebuild or repair their homes.

“Rest assured that as The Gambia prepares to safely reopen schools, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and the rest of the United Nations system in the country will provide strong support to ensure that students and staff are safe in school," said UNICEF’s Gordon Jonathan Lewis during a meeting with Cole in Banjul, the capital of the West African country.

According to Lewis, UNICEF has reprogrammed more than 4 million U.S. dollars of the agency's regular and emergency budgets to support the country's response to the pandemic and ensure continuity of services across a range of sectors.

The UN assistance is for the overall school program structure. It does not meet the needs of individual students who struggle to get an education, even in normal times.

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Hoja Ceesay pictured in 2018 when she was in the fourth grade. Your $75 will allow her or one of 17 other children to continue their education. Ceesay is now in the sixth grade.

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POHGEP is seeking to raise only $1,350. Even if $75 is out of your budget, any amount will do and be added to others to support a child. We thank you for your support on behalf of our friends in The Gambia, on Africa’s smiling coast.

P.S. For only $75, your donation will provide your child: an uniform, shoes, lunch (for the year), exercise books, book rental, study fees, and a school bag.