FOSS - Friends of Sanchaba School, The Gambia
Friends of Sanchaba School - FOSS (The Gambia) is a UK registered charity, registration number 1115353. We provide lunch and vital life saving medication for the pupils of the school.
Where is the school?
The School can be found in the village of Sanchaba, about a 20 minute drive time from Kololi, which is the main tourist area.
The village of Sanchaba its self is small and has a few road side shops and the odd stall selling fish, fruit and vegetables, a stand pipe providing water for drinking, washing and cooking, all has to be carried by the women and children to where they live in compounds with their extended families. Goats and chickens roam free on the unmade roads that run through it, many of these roads become impassable during the rainy season leaving water standing for many months that becomes a breeding ground for mosquito.
About the School
The school was founded in 1995 and to date has around 2000 pupils, aged between 5 and 13 years. The school operates a two shift system teaching half the children in the morning and the remainder in the afternoon.
In more recent years it has formed a P T A and a Mothers union. The prime example of this being the volunteer mothers who prepare and cook the lunches while others run a tuck shop with the proceeds going towards school uniforms for the poorest pupils of which there are many. All this along with the continued support of the local village people is what makes us want to help the best way we can.
The school attracts children from miles away because there is food, most of the children arrive on foot all wearing their school uniform.
The Gambia
The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa, known as the gateway to Africa, due to the River Gambia allowing ships to sail its 300 miles in land. It became independent in 1965 and remains part of the Commonwealth.
It has a population of 1.5 million, its economy is dominated by farming, fishing and tourism. A third of the population live below the international poverty line of 76p a day.
See the BBC web site for more information about The Gambia..
About us
In 1998, Jean and Paul Browne visited the Gambia on a family holiday and, having fallen in love with the country and its people we returned the following year.
On a tour round the suburbs, we requested to be shown a school that was not a regular tourist attraction. This school is called Sanchaba Sulay Jobe Lower Basic School. On arrival, we were concerned about the lack of basic facilities and the health of the children - but were impressed by the pupil’s willingness to learn and local support from villagers.
We continued to visit in subsequent years, assisting with pens, pencils, basic first aid supplies.
However, it was during our visit in May 2005 that Isatou, the Head mistress, informed us that the World Food Programme has ceased to provide free rice and asked if we could help. We returned to the UK, not knowing where to start. We had never asked anyone for money. So we started with a coffee morning at home, an auction in our local pub, we held table top sales and word of mouth brought in donations. This was the birth of the Rice Run!
We returned in October 2005 with enough money to purchase 100 sacks of rice and some medical supplies. On our return to the U K we continued to raise money and looked into becoming a charity.
At the end of 2006 we received our charity number and gift aid registration, and we have been involved with the school to date.
How you can help
I would like to quote Isatou “Empty sacks fall down” meaning, children who are hungry cannot learn.
We have seen the difference a plate of rice can make. The cost of this is about 5p per child, and every penny we receive goes to the Gambia. please download our gift aid form here.
We need people to support us by making donations to FOSS (The Gambia). We welcome individual fund raising initiatives with proceeds aimed at benefiting our charity and making a difference to the lives and health of these children.