The community empowerment project in the village of Mandinary was Wednesday evening visited by philanthropists supporting the garden project, which is progressing steadily.
The project was initiated four years ago to empower women and young people to enable them work and help themselves in sustaining their livelihood.
However, the community recently appealed for help in the form of a perimeter fence for the garden and a borehole. It was in this regard that the project was registered in the UK as a charitable organization two years ago.
The donors also said they are helping in the education sector by providing books and other school materials to improve learning, which is beneficial to the sector.
The project was initiated by eight Britons and one Gambian by the name of Shaihou S.K. Jagne, who is the country coordinator for the project.
Speaking to reporters at the site, Juliet Rust, a supporter to the project, said they came up with the name Community Empowerment Project because they have been seeing young people having problems of jobs, which they want to address.
Rust said their main aim is to create employment for the women and young people, adding that they want people to be improved to enable them to look after themselves.
She noted that they have a team of eight Britons in the UK who work regularly in developing the project.
She also noted that when they met the women of Mandinary they found them to be determined and working hard on their gardens where they are being disturbed by the animals that usually intrude to destroy their vegetables, which had a great effect on them.
They then came up with the idea of erecting a fence of 30,000 square metres at a cost of €1,400, which is still in progress.
She added that they intend to return to the UK and raise more funds for the project.
She further stressed that they would like to build a vocational training centre to create more job opportunities for the youth.
For his part, Shaihou Jagne, coordinator of the project, whose family donated the land to the community, said they are looking for volunteers both within and outside the community who will work with them to sustain the charity project.
The project is meant not only for the people of Mandinary but also for everyone, he said, adding that after finishing the fencing of the project site, they would love to install a borehole with reservoirs for them to get access to water.
For her part, Maggie Theed, a co-donor, thanked the women for their hard work and commitment and expressed their happiness to be associated with the community.
Members of the village including Aja Mama Fatajo, Mama Fatajo and Kadijatou Sanneh all spoke about the project and called for more help.
