Rotary Minute: Rotarians help in Gambia

Published 7:42 pm Friday, May 4, 2018

Jalanbang, a small village in Gambia, had no school at all until 2010, when an enterprising tour guide built one with money donated by satisfied customers. Christine Gascoigne, a past president of the Rotary Club of Ely Hereward, England, suggested that her club “adopt” the struggling school in Gambia. The following year, her club helped the school by raising about $2,000 in pledges from a club-sponsored 50-mile walk along the north Norfolk coast. A few years later, with a matching grant from their Rotary district, the club built a large chicken coop for the school and donated about 500 chicks. Now the school kids can raise their own funds with some 400 eggs a day — making the school the fifth-largest egg producer in Gambia! Another example of Rotarians helping build sustainable solutions where they can.