Salimatou
Foundation for Education (SaFE), a civil society organisation that promotes and
advocates for the right to education, recently celebrated its one-year
anniversary.
The
foundation, founded by a young Gambian activist, Salimatou Fatty, last year
November, promotes and advocates for the provision of free, affordable, safe,
relevant and quality education to all people.
In commemoration of the anniversary, the
foundation organised a press conference at Child Protection Alliance in Fajara
on Friday to share with the media the progress registered so far.
The
foundation’s assistant COE Muhammed Kebbeh, said over the course of the
one-year, the foundation has undertaken many activities such as community
outreach, school visits, donation, sponsoring and mentoring.
He
affirmed that as they commemorate the first anniversary, they once again renew
their commitment to advocate for free, safe, relevant and quality education for
all regardless of tribe, gender or religion.
Mr
Kebbeh said the foundation is currently sponsoring some less privileged kids
through the support of individuals who love the ideals of the organisation.
“But
this is not enough as many kids are out there and not able to make it to
school,” he said, while calling on individuals and organisations to come on
board and help the foundation achieve one of their greatest objectives –
helping to ensure that every child has good education.
“We
cannot do it all alone and that is why we partnered and are still partnering
with organisations and institutions of common interest and goals to complement
and make work easier and further each other’s aims and objectives,” he added.
Mr
Kebbeh thanked the volunteers of the foundation, who, he said, sacrifice their
time, efforts and even sometimes money to see to it that the agenda of the
foundation is pushed further.
Fatima
Jajur, one of the volunteers of Salimatou Foundation, said the foundation has a
lot to offer in the near future.
“We
have plans to conduct a regional and national spelling bee for primary schools
in the country,” she said.
The
foundation also conducts weekend classes for their sponsored kids to help them
caught up in schools and be fast learners.
She
said the foundation would be rolling out a mentoring scheme to mentor kids on
their future career plans as many children are now faced with the trouble of
choosing a suitable career.
