Saints Francophile, a French association, recently
celebrated eight years of existence, at Alliance Francaise.
The celebration was attended by senior members of the association, government officials and representatives of other organisations.
Delivering his opening statement, Ali Sowe, Secretary General of Saints Francophile Association (SFA), said the day was a great occasion for them as it also gave them the opportunity to celebrate the success stories and achievements of the association.
Their successes, he noted, included membership expansion, and hosting of viable projects and important events within the period.
Mr Sowe said the association used to coordinate the francophone nationals in The Gambia, which is every year organised and sponsored by Alliance Francaise.
The annual programme also involves schools in region one and two with students taking part in debate and quiz competitions to showcase their talents in French language.
It also involves displaying cultural values
These and a lot of other progragmmes are performed, initiated by the association and lots of opportunities given to those who participate in the event.
Participants also get scholarship packages to study the French language in Alliance Francise de Banjul and some French educational materials that can help them in paving their way of speaking French fluently.
Ansu Jack, President of Saints Francophile association, said the association was initiated by students of St Augustine’s and St Joseph Senior Secondary Schools but later they invited a lot of people from different schools.
“Today, we actually having our anniversary of eight years of existence and we thought, of cause, it is very pertinent for us to change the name from Saints Francophile to French Association of The Gambia because actually we govern all French clubs in The Gambia. It means what basically we do is to promote the French language as well as to help the communities,” Mr Jack said.
“The association was initiated in 2007 and today we have got eight years and I am very much impressed by our achievements. A lot of people have also come from outside the country, to grace this occasion and it shows how relevant the association is to them.”
He also said: The other thing is that, we are trying to see how best we can help Gambians to have access to French language. We have been giving out free scholarships to our members and we normally have national tour to visit various regions in The Gambia because there are certain schools in some regions they actually have French teachers but they are not well qualified.