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Dear Supporters,

Find these links two new power point presentations about the WIFE project

Buiding a gender sensitive society through the WIFE Project

Synopsis and practical information of the WIFE Project

These were presented by Ebrima Dem at the African leadership training on project sustainablity and ethtics organised by the Earth Charter

Happy reading

Read the publication in the point NewsPaper here: 

http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/women-initiative-project-for-dongoroba-village 

Thanks

Dear Supporters and Friends,

The WIFE Project is today published in 3 of the major news papers in the Gambia. Find of the first publication in Observer News here:

http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/wife-to-enhance-horticultural-production-in-rural-gambia 
I will share with you other links as soon as they publish.Thank you for the support and guidanceBest wishesEbrima

Hi Friends,

Its has been quite a while. We are still working on getting trainers ( Gardening Management and enterpreneurship).. We have not finalised it but needed to share with you what we have so far..

Please download the:

1. Training Guidelines HERE

1. training plan, scheme of work on other documents  HERE

For Training and Composting material needed, please below 

Training Material

1.    Flip Chart

2.    Markers

Composting Material

1.    Vinegar

2.    Urea ( chemical fertilizer)

3.    Sugar

4.    Garden tools for practical

5.    Spade

6.    Garden Forks

7.    Watering Cans

8.    Measuring Tape

9.    Garden rope

We will appreciate your commend..

Best wishes

Ebrima S. Dem

WIFE Project Coordinator

Hi Friends and supporters,please visit this facebook link to see pictures of most recent activities on WIFE project in Dongoroba:

 http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3221880153057.285386.1448049247&type=1

We will put more pictures on the project page when internet improve.

Best wishes

Dear supporters and friends, We recently return from Dongoroba after one week there supervising the WIFE project work. Whilst there, we carried out the following activities:

1. Meeting: we met the women beneficiaries, village representatives ( or Garden Committee), the village elders etc. The pupose of the meeting was to explain project activities and share ideas on how to continue on the work.

2. Garden Gate: We bought metals, rod and plates and hire a welderman to contruct the garden garden gate. So far, the gate is done and it is at the moment in the Garden The overal cost of creating the gate an transporting it to Dongoroba is D7000 (aprox: 185 Euros). We bought cement ( 3 bags), iron rods ( 6), wires and hired contractor to make the pillars for the gate. The pillars are ready, and waiting for the cement to dry before the gate is fix.

3. Tilling the Garden: A heavy duty tractor was hired from Sapu ( approximately 145 KM from Dongoroba). The cost of bringing the tractor was D25,000. ( aprox: 658 Euros) Right now the garden is completed tilled. This work was done today, when we were already back to Banjul ( city). However, I recieved confirmation that one the village took pictures and videos of it using his mobile. 

4. Training: on the training for the women in garden management, we contacted two instutions to conduct the training for two months ( ie National women Farmers Association and Department of state for Agricuture, at their regional office in Jenoi, Lower River region). Jenoi is about 28 KM from Dongoroba. We have requested these institutions to send us: a. Training manual or content, examination format, training outline, timetable and budget for training 300 women. Once we recieve these, we will make final selection of the institution that offer better training at more reasonal price. Tentatively, the training will start by 10th February 2012.. We have also identified the venue for the training which is monthly health center at the village.

5. Expansion of the Garden: Though the garden is very big, it cannot give enough space for 300 women. Therefore, discussion is going between the villgae chief ( alkalo) and village elders to secure more land to expand the garden a garden again. The discussion has reach a good stage. We will give you more details on that once it is finalised.

We will share with you soon  some pictures and video on activities we have done so far.

Best wishes

Ebrima Dem

WIFE project Coordinator

Dear friends and supporters of the WIFE project,

Greetings from The Gambia, I hope you have started the New Year with new beginning. I am happy to give you a small update of what we have done so far regarding the WIFE Project.

ü  WHAT AND HOW: What was the aim of the project and has this been achieved? How many people have been supported (directly/indirectly)?  

The WIFE (Women’s Initiative for Education and Empowerment) was a community based self-help project. It was geared towards building the capacity of women in Dongoroba and the surrounding villages in gardening and management of small business (entrepreneurship) as well as to carry out awareness creation on gender-based violence against women. By doing this, we expected to not only socially empower these women but also economically. The project first phase was to repair the village garden, re-fence it, till and level the topography of the garden, make gate, and train at least 300 women.

So far, the garden has been cleared at no cost by the villagers themselves. Poles have been gathered to repair some damaged parts, but the major part of the fence has been repaired also at no cost, even before the project received funding.

At the moment, we have discussed with a tractor owner in Sapu (a rice cultivating village in the Central River Region of The Gambia) to till the soil. We are still negotiating the price; the agreed price will be communicated, by the time work begins.

On the training, we have identified trainer with NAWFA (National Women’s Farmers Association). The trainer will be based in the village, to teach on the women gardening  techniques for a period of 3 months at 3500 (100 Euros) per month and trainer to teach women in entrepreneurship. These two trainings will go on concurrently beginning in February. We will share attendance list, pictures and video when the classes start.

ü  TIPS AND TRICKS: What went well and/or better than expected? Which aspects were more challenging/turned out different than expected? What aspect would you take into account in a next project? (This is especially helpful to share with other project developers).  

The WIFE project has not fully started, due to late receipt of fund. And secondly, I arrived in the Gambia on January 3^rd 2012 and could not give authorisation to our bank to disburse fund to my team before I arrive in the Gambia. However, overall, the project has started well. The villagers are very cooperative. They cleared the entire garden with the supervision of the village Representative,  the garden poles are gathered and they are meeting regularly and communicating with us at every step. The project implementing team are also very committed and dedicated to the project. This is highly welcome since it is one of the most significant components needed for the project to succeed.

We have not faced any major challenge yet though we are yet to start the project proper. One of the expected challenges however is rise in price of  a number of materials the project requires. A particular case is hiring heavy duty tractor to till the soil which as of last year was D25, 000(657 Euros) per day, but now D30, 000(790 Euros) or more per day. This is due to rise in the cost of fuel.

ü  CHANGE:  What is the most significant change for a person out of the target group and/or what aspect in her/his life has been changed by the project? Literally ask that person: What, in your eyes, has been the biggest change in your life through this project?

The project has begun changing life even before it is fully operational. The cooperation and togetherness   of the villagers is worth celebrating. Also, the meeting with the villagers so far has changed the mind-set of the people towards gardening. In the past, gardening was seen as wasted endeavour especially in ethnic Fula communities. However, when the project is fully completed, the project will go far beyond putting smiles on the faces or changing mind-sets, it will completely transform the life of these vulnerable women and their families.

FINANCIALLY: On what exactly has the money received through the 1%CLUB been spend? Have there been any changes from in the budget plan? If yes, please explain what exactly changed and why?

Overall the project money has not been spent as the project is yet to be operational. Only D5, 000 ( aprox 150 Euros) has been used so far on transports to Dongoroba, consultation with tractor owner and trainers. We are expecting to buy the gate, pay transport, pay the tractor owner after reaching an agreement and the trainers. These are major activities we will embark on as soon as possible. Receipts, pictures and invoices will be posted on the project site as soon as payment is done.

However, the budget is expected to change slightly due to rising cost of materials compared to 2010 when the project was first developed. Also some activities such as tilling soil of the garden , constructing metal gate was not included in the budget in the initial project plan, but which we found important after meeting with the villagers and inspecting the garden more closely.

ü  WHAT’S NEXT: How are things going to continue on the project location? What is the follow-up of the project?

The project location will remain in Dongoroba for now as we are piloting the project there. After the project is successfully implemented, then we will replicate it in other villages.  Though we have not started the project fully, regular follow ups and supervision are going on. We speak with village representatives at every stage and process and who are also communicating with the women. We will post regular reports and update on the project site and final project report will also be sent when we fully finish the project.

Dear Friends. We hope you all had a wonderful christmas celebration. We wish you a happy new year in advance.
We have contacted the village reps and ask them to mobilised the youth for the cleaning and mending of the Garden. This we hope will be done soon and we will share the photos with you. Also, in the coming weeks, we will published the TOR ( terms of reference) in the local newspapers for people interested to serve as trainers in the garden management and enterpreneurship for the women.
I will share this in the project page as soon as it the published.Best wishes.

Dear friends,

Find here the report of GU's team visit to Dongoroba. We will also try upload some videos of this meeting, though its difficult due to poor intenet connection.

Best wishes 

Ebrima 

WIFE Project team leader

The WIFE project implimenting team had met the women of Dongoroba on the 19th November 2011. They  discussed the project plan, selected the village representatives, visit the project site and made head counts of the beneficiaries. We will share with you soon the report, pictures and videos of this trip.

Meanwhile, kindly read the Information package, we share with villagers 

Thank you

Ebrima

The WIFE Project Implementing team will travel to Dongoroba on the 11th November 2011, for the first planning meeting with villagers. During this meeting, our team will share more ideas about the project, map out plans, select village representatives and make head count of the women beneficiaries of the project etc.

Ebrima

Hi leaders,

You can now view or download the work-plan ( draft) of the wife project HERE. We welcome your thoughts and ideas on how to make it much better...

Best wishes

Ebrima 

on behalf of the project team

Dear beautiful people,

I call the women in Dongoroba to officially inform them that the project has now received funding. Imagine the scream of laughter and smiles in the faces of these women.  Everybody is excited about this new development, which is off course made possible, thanks to your support.

At the moment, since the village garden is being use for the millet farm, we will start implementing the projects in January 2012. By then they would have harvest their crops and cleared the garden of any grasses. We will keep you posted as soon as we starting the implementing process.

Meanwhile, we are drafting our work-plans, which we will share with you soon.

Thank for helping me and my team puts a smile in faces of these women that really needed our help.

Best wishes

Ebrima

On behalf of the WIFE Project team

I browse through the 1% cubs for the Gambia. Many of them, though written in Dutch i manage to google translate to have idea of what they  are. Many of them work with local communities. This means, they probably have some knowledge to share with others, to make our work have sustain impact on the communtieis we serve.

Thus, I would like to suggest establishing partnerships to share good pratices and knowledge regarding our work..

What do you think?

Hi all,

Again, we wish to thank 1% club and all those who contributed their time, knowledge and money in the WIFE project.  In fact, we received 570 Euro more than we needed to complete the first phase of the project (Re-fencing the garden and training on garden management and Entrepreneurship and sensitisation on gender base violence).  Thus, we will use this additional funds to kick-start the second phase of the project (Solar powered drip Irrigation system), where the water will be used for both the Garden and Domestic needs.

Specifically, the money will be used to buy drip Irrigation kits, Overhead Tank ( 2), buy metal tank stand ( 2), Well cover and Apron  ( 2),plastic pipes etc. where the still balance.. We will use it to buy at least solar panel.  This material will be kept until the second phase, which will be as soon as the first phase is finished and reports and evaluation shared.

Note, the budgeting for the WIFE was done in 2010 and there small shift in the price of number of items we budgeted for.  However, this will not affect the overall project success. For now, we have sent email request for profoma invoices from Power up Gambia-local Company specialising on Garden Irrigation and other small companies. We will incorporated the new costing in the budget and share it with you.

Please see in this photo the sample of irrigation type we want to do.

Please Note: the photos belong to Power UP Gambia and Ping Charities UK 

We are happy!!!!!

Thank you so much

Ebrima S. Dem

 Behalf of the WIFE project team.

Hello friends,

First, we want to reitorate our appreciation for your support to to the wife project. I stoke Musa Jallow, one of volunteer who was Dongoroba, below is the updates on the project: 

1. As its rainy season in the Gambia, the women in Dongoroba, instead of leaving the land of the garden idle,  are using it for their cooporative millet farm. Some of the money realised from this farm will be reinvested in the garden.

2.After harvesting, at the start of dry session ( by December / January) we hope to begin work on the refenching of the Garden,which is still the most urgent issues at the moment. 

3. By January 2012, if the project is not be fully funded,  the villagers have agreed to use wood polls to make a temporal fenching, at least to enable the women do some work. until such time, the project have resources to construct cement poles. However, the disadvantage of this is that the polls will be cut down from nearby bush. This is not sustainable and not environmental friendly.

4. The good news though, is that the two wells in the garden has now been re-dug ( by the village Community Organisation). They now have enough water but they will still need at least one more well to solve the water problem. 


Thank you

Ebrima

Hi friends,

Global Unification the Gambia has now got its own website:  

www.globalunificationthegambia.org 

Please visit the site and like us, share or join monthly newsletter.

Its rainy season again in the Gambia, once again malaria season. Many people, women and children remain vulnerable.  The WIFE take side local women in Dongoroba in their struggle offset extreme poverty. With you, all is possible!!!

Dear friends,
I would like to sincerely thank you for your generous donation to the WIFE project. Every donation helps ensure that we can continue helping our community.I know there are a lot of other ways you could have spent this money, but you believe in our cause, so you chose to invest it in our project. Because of this investment, I want you to feel like part of our team. We're in this together. I want our success to be your success.
I know the economy is tough, so thank you for investing your hard-earned money on our cause. Today, the WIFE project have recieve EURO 535 donation from good people like you. However, we still need Euro 2978 more for the project to be fully funded. Thus, please consider telling your friends and family about our project - share the link on your blogs or social networks or just bring it up in conversation. You know your friends and family best, so use your own words - tell them why you chose this project and what it means to you.

Thank you again for all you have done to help this cause.

With gratitude,

Ebrima S. Dem

I am one of those that believe there is close link between population growth and climate change. Increase in population in Africa for intance means more community dependency on the forest for their lifelihood- cutting more trees for firewood, roofing and other domestic need.. These contribute greatly in the increament of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere as the trees which will otherwise serve as carbon sink are no more. Added to this, increase population also lead increase in polutions from vehicle, as more people move about in their daily life, food production in factories and so on. So, i strongly believe that any action to tackle climate chnage should also put into account population growth.

It is important to note that the blame for rapid population growth, should not be place squarely on women...as many of the pregnacy are unwanted, cause as result early marriages, force marriages, rape and low level of education of the women themselves and their male counterparts on the direct consequence of rapid population growth. Therefore, public acess to information on climate change, sex education and access for contraceptive for women, will make a geant leap towards reducing the impact of climate change and the risk it posed to our survival in this planet...

Ebrima Dem

Youth social justice advocate 

Source: Online Africa Renewal

Dear supporters and friends,

I am currenttly in Barcelona. Here, I am working to how best i can send international volunteers to Dongoroba Village, in August 2011 (summer holiday) to participate in WIFE project activities. Volunteers will stay with families in the village where they will have direct contact with local communities and have intercultural dialogue.  During their stay, volunteers will support women in their garden activities, conduct advocacy for women rights, teach at the village primary school and support village monthly clinic (if you are a doctor or nurse). This clinic is organise monthly by the goverment support pregnant mothers’ and those with children under five. I am currently engaging two organisations-Setem and Africa Stop Malaria here in Barcelona on this issues.

Note: Invitation to participate in this program is also extended to other volunteers in Netherland and other countries. There is NO specific requirement for volunteers wishing to participate in this project, just willingness to stay in rural communities. Ability to speak English, will enhance some communication with locals, so it is an advantage. Alos if you, we can fulani classes for volunteers, as here every body speak fula.. I will be life long experience for you... If you are interested.. just contact me...

cheers....