CEO Julivssen, was speaking to The Point in an interview when she made the remarks and added that: “The government is doing its best in improving the country’s infrastructural development. However, it is important that Ebo Town is also considered, especially areas where our school is located. During the rainy season, children find it difficult to access the school due to stagnant water among others.”
“My foundation has built five schools in The Gambia. My objective has always been to complement government efforts towards quality education in the country. When people are educated they participate in nation building.”
“We have also been providing schools that we will build with school materials which include uniforms, lunch and even feeding. These are all geared towards the betterment and development of the students. We want them to focus and be able to attend classes regularly without any hindrance.”
“The foundation has always contributed and impacted the lives of African children, particularly Gambians. Our intervention in the country started in 2003 when I visited a school and realised that 50 children or more were packed in one classroom. Sitting was a problem for them as they were overcrowded. I said to myself that it is important that we do something for these kids,” she explained.
“When I returned to Norway, I decided to work hard and approach some donors for help. Luckily for us, we were able to gather some with a view to change the narrative in that school. Now we can boast of building five schools which include a school in Nuimi in North Bank Region.”
“It is also important to note that our schools are doing extremely well when it comes to performance. Our teachers are amazing and good at what they do. Our junior school in 2004 was ranked 4th out of over 100 junior schools across the country. We will continue with such a performance. When it comes to education, we do not compromise.”
“However, due to financial issues, our junior school in New Jeshwang was taken by the government. We are now hoping to take it back and bring it to the foundation and continue on what we were doing. We will continue to help needy people in the country with the desire for them to overcome their challenges. We have some students who pass through our school who are now studying abroad and others are at the University of The Gambia while others are contributing to the country’s development in different ways.”
According to her, they also built a clinic at New Jeshwang. “We are currently paying the salaries of three midwives, including the cleaner. We will support the government with anything we could do. We are not only limiting our support to education and health sectors but to other sectors as well. We also have a female football team that named themselves after our foundation. We will continue supporting them.”
