SOS Children in The Gambia
The Gambia, situated on the Atlantic coast of north-west Africa, is the smallest country in Africa and one of its poorest, with neither properly developed health or education systems. The economy is based on agriculture, which provides a living for most of the population, usually at subsistence level. Industrialisation is still in the early stages, although tourism has become a major industry in recent years.
SOS Children started in Gambia in 1981 with a community in Bakoteh, a short distance from the town of Serrakunda and about 10 miles from the capital, Banjul. The 12 family houses, built in the local style and surrounded by flowers, shrubs and trees, are home to around 120 children and their SOS mothers. There is also a nursery school, used by local children as well as children from the village, and a primary and secondary school, which are now run by the national education authority.
The main aim of the SOS Vocational Training Centre Bakoteh is to pass on to young people knowledge and experience that will enable them to run their own businesses and lead independent lives. We specialise in three areas: carpentry/woodwork, car mechanics, and metal work/tool making. Five youth houses provide accommodation for young people from SOS Children's Villages in neighbouring countries who come here for training. The centre also operates as a production and service unit supplying the general public, making it to some extent self-sufficient.
A shortage of medical facilities in the area led to the establishment of an SOS Mother and Child Clinic in 1997, which provides medical care and counselling especially for pregnant women and mothers with small children. An ambulance is available to transport emergency cases. The clinic is one of Gambia's most important medical facilities providing services and assistance to around 20,000 people in the locality each year.
There is also a Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) in Bakoteh which supports over 300 community children and their families with food, healthcare, education costs, and provides income-generating opportunities for caregivers. This programme helps to prevent child abandonment.
We set up a Girls’ Youth Home in 2006 to support young girls forced into commercial sex work due to economic hardship and who are as a result outcast from society. SOS Gambia began this project, which has now been handed over to the Department of Social Welfare.
A second SOS Children's Village, Nursery and Primary School opened in Basse in the east of the country in 2007, thanks to the support of SOS supporters in the UK! There are 12 family homes at the Village, which also has a large playground and lots grassy areas for the children to run around in. The Nursery School offers a pre-school education to 100 little children, and over 400 children attend the SOS Primary School. An FSP in Basse will begin in late 2008.
Basse is located on a trucker route between northern and southern Senegal; the HIV/AIDS rate is increasing as a result, as are the numbers of orphans and abandoned children.
At present we support over 23,000 people in The Gambia through 2 SOS Children’s Villages, 1 SOS Youth Home, 2 SOS Nursery Schools, 2 SOS Schools, 1 SOS Vocational Training Centre, 1 SOS Family Strengthening Programme and 1 SOS Medical Centre.
There is also information on the Aids Orphan Projects in the Gambia, Africa.
Local Contacts
SOS Children's Villages of The Gambia , Bakoteh, PMB 28 GPO, Banjul, Gambia
Tel: +220/446 08 31
Fax: +220/446 43 61
e-mail: sos-no@sosgambia.org
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