ChildFund The Gambia, on 17 March 2011 observed International Aflatoun Day.
The celebration was staged in a form of a tour by school-going children (Aflatoun members ages between 6-14) within the West Coast Region to various institutions.
The tour took the students to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education,
At
Mr Ebou Janneh, a teacher at
He added that this is the right time for children to start saving so that by the time they are 25 years they had already got a strong financial background.
Speaking at Action Aid The Gambia Head Office, Dr Kujejatou Manneh, Director of Action Aid, said she was pleased to meet the Aflatoun students.
She urged them to work hard, noting that anyone can become more than a director in the future.
Madam Manneh added that she hopes the children will do well in the future and urged them to aim high, noting that the future is bright for them.
Ms Manneh stated that they also have a similar organisation like Aflatoun called Children’s Right and Empowerment for Social Transformation (CREST), adding that the two organisations could work together.
She finally urged the children to use their knowledge to create things that can make changes in people’s lives.
Speaking at the Child Fund National Office, the National Director of the Organization, Eustace Cassell, said they were delight to have the Aflatoun students at the main office.
He added that at the end of the project he would like to see the children become better in whatever they are doing. “We want to see the project extended to other regions,” he said.
Horeja Touray-Dibba, Infant and Child Co-coordinator at ChildFund, said Aflatoun is Arabic word which means to explore, adding that Aflatoun is operating in 6 communities within the region 2.
She added that in these regions, 18 schools are part of the project and in each of these 18 schools 90 students are part of the Aflatoun.
“In the whole of West Coast Region we have 1620 people who are benefiting from the project,” she said.
Mrs Touray-Dibba stated that the aim of the project is geared towards helping children to believe in themselves, understand their rights and responsibilities.
“We want them to value the appropriate use of natural and financial resources, ensure planning before spending, adopt the culture of saving and the significance of self-reliance while initiating change through child social and financial enterprise,” she said.
