Bridge to Success – The Gambia Project

Four members of Rotary Club of Edmonds traveled to The Gambia in February 2019 and conducted a needs assessment in nine Senior Secondary Schools. From that, the Bridge to Success project was born, which will bring science education to provincial students in The Gambia. In rural Gambia, science education enrollment is significantly low and not offered in many high schools. The primary reason for this unfortunate setback is the lack of Science Labs, though it is a requirement for high schools to offer Biology, Chemistry and Physics classes. With the absence of pure science subjects in these schools, it is likely that rural high school students are also not introduced to advance mathematics such as calculus and statistics which denies them the opportunity to pursue higher education in science and technology. MRC Holland Foundation, Edmonds Rotary Club and Brusubi Rotary Club are bridging this gap by building a standard science lab at Kaur Senior Secondary School (with a new construction three classroom block) and refurbish and convert three existing classrooms in Niani Senior Secondary school into a functional science lab.

CASA Books Program CASA staff officially accept the book donation in front of the Edmonds Bookshop. From left: CASA Division Manager Joelle Kelly, Diane Buckshnis, Michelle Bear, Mary Kay Sneeringer, David Brewster, CASA Program Supervisor Lindsay Cortes, and CASA volunteer case worker Hannah Patterson.

Partners in Gambia are the MRC Holland Foundation, The Gambia Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and The Rotary Club of Brusubi-Serakunda. Rotary Partners include Edmonds Daybreakers, Rotary Clubs of Shoreline, Renton, Alderwood Terrace, Lake Forest Park, Ballard, Auburn, Lynnwood, Emerald City and Kent, Bellevue Breakfast and Lake Union Neighborhood. Private partners include Vicki Giles Fabre, Rick and Charlotte Canning, Sally Hyde, Karen Wiggins, Larry Fuell, Jean Swenson, John Magnuson, Liwanta Lwanga, and Earthbound Expeditions. We thank you all for your generous support.

CASA Books Program CASA staff officially accept the book donation in front of the Edmonds Bookshop. From left: CASA Division Manager Joelle Kelly, Diane Buckshnis, Michelle Bear, Mary Kay Sneeringer, David Brewster, CASA Program Supervisor Lindsay Cortes, and CASA volunteer case worker Hannah Patterson.
The two schools are in the Central River Region, an area which has received some government attention over the past 20 years with the establishment of senior secondary schools. Prior to 1994 there was only one Senior Secondary School in rural Gambia. Since 1994 however, the government has made efforts to increase the number of such schools e.g. Kaur Senior Secondary was established in 1995. Despite these efforts, facilities such as science labs and teaching personnel are needed. The project is also designed to train teachers and provide valuable teaching materials for beneficiaries of several feeder schools around the villages of Wassu and Kaur. The villagers will provide land and unskilled labor for construction. Both senior secondary schools will also share the lab with other schools in the area (some over 40 kilometers away) thereby bringing much needed science education to over 500 students in the Central River Region.
CASA Books Program CASA staff officially accept the book donation in front of the Edmonds Bookshop. From left: CASA Division Manager Joelle Kelly, Diane Buckshnis, Michelle Bear, Mary Kay Sneeringer, David Brewster, CASA Program Supervisor Lindsay Cortes, and CASA volunteer case worker Hannah Patterson.