Founder Fatoumatta Jammeh-Jeng explained the inspiration behind the initiative, saying that single mothers face problems like poverty, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, isolation, depression, social stigma and lack of social support which leave their children exposed to child exploitation, abuse, early marriage and host of other issues.
“The main objective of the project is to identify these vulnerable mothers and involve them into self-development and employment to enable them to earn decent living through healthy life-skills and become economically self-reliant,” she said.
Mrs. Jammeh-Jeng said Single Mother’s Scheme is a self-help agency that provides opportunity for human dignity by providing descent housing, food, clothing, health assistance, counseling, education and job placement.
She said the establishment of Single Mother’s Scheme is to seek solutions to the social and economic problems related to poverty, adding that it is through joint efforts with relevant stakeholders that they can broaden their outreach to reach to every single mother across the country.
“If families are stable and parents can provide for their children then the overall wellness of children in The Gambia will improve,” she pointed out.
Jatou Mbaye, founder of JT’s creation and trainer of the Single Mother’s disclosed that she gained self-confidence and was able to improve her networking skills which made her business more successful.
She urged members to make plans and set goals, advising them to be skillful, self-confident and self-independent.
Baboucarr Jeng, co-founder of Single Mother’s Scheme explained how stressful it is for a single mother to be both a mother and a father, noting that when a mother is vulnerable the child will be vulnerable too. “We are trying to intervene with initiatives that will tap into the talents they have and we marry those talents with skills,” he said.
Aji Maimuna Mbaye, president of Single Mother’s Scheme emphasised the importance of the initiative, thanking Mr. and Mrs. Jeng and all the participants for gracing the occasion.
She buttressed on the relevance of skills acquisition and how that can help the women to be independent rather than being dependent, adding that the initiative will bring great opportunities for the women.
Speaking on behalf of the single mothers, Fatoumatta Bobb thanked the duo for coming up with what she described as one of the kind initiatives to promote, unite and support the single mothers in the most advanced way.
“When divorce, migration or deaths occur, so many women become vulnerable and will be left with their children with no choice but to fend for themselves,” she added.
