Gambian philanthropist donates to schools in Foni Berefet

By Omar Bah Jerry Badgie, a Gambian philanthropist residing in the United States, has recently donated school teaching materials, sport gears among host of other valuable materials worth over ten thousand US dollars to communities in the Foni Berefet. The materials were distributed to Sutusinjang Islamic school, Sutusinjang Basic cycle, Berefet Basic Cycle, Ndemban and other surrounding villages. Speaking at the presentation, Sutusinjang Village Alkalo Mamina Jammeh extended his warmest gratitude to Jerry Badgie, describing him as a great son of Sutusinjang and Foni Brefet. “I am very proud that such a wonderful son of our country is born in my village. I will also want to take this opportunity to reassure him of my unreserved support. I will not also do justice if I don’t congratulate the people he is giving this gift to, they have been very cooperative and I want to tell them that I am proud of them,” he said. He also called on other villagers residing in the Diaspora to emulate Jerry’s laudable efforts, saying “Every good son of a nation should wish for his nation what he/she wishes for himself”. The Alkalo also called on the new government whom he claims to have supported during and after the election to help the village elevate their school into a senior school. The Cluster monitor in Ndemban Alhagie Yahya Mbye on behalf of the education directorate expressed appreciation to the donor and reminded him of the fact that he is spending it in the right place. “We have many Gambians in the US, but the question is how many of them are ready to invest in the right places like the education sector? I will also like to urge the beneficiaries to make good use of the materials,” he stressed. The school headmistress Mariama Sankara said the materials donated to the school will go along way in helping the school. She reassured that the materials will be put into good use, saying “Our school is young but we are ready to take any challenge that comes our way as you can bear me witness that the school did extremely well in the grade nine exams last year”. Meanwhile, Sheriffo Badgie elder brother to the donor said Jerry Badgie has been engaged in such intervention over the years and that he is not just preparing to relent. “Education being the backbone of every society means that we are not going to give up in our crusade. I want to inform the community of Berefet that this is just a starting point, many more will follow soon,” he said. He continued: “We are also planning to come up with more initiatives which will include fencing the school promises with a project estimated at over D1M,” he said. He said that giving out is easy, but taking care of what you are given is a different ball game. “So that being the case, I want to urge the school administration to take good care of the materials,” he concluded.]]>