Dembo is an 18 year old boy in the village of Brikama, The Gambia. Early in 2022, Dembo reached out to me asking for help to feed his family. His parents died in a car crash in 2015, following which he and his younger siblings have been living with their grandma.
After some video calls and conversations with his family, I sent them some food through a game-changing platform called "Terangas" (think: Amazon, but for food, and with delivery to the Gambia). I felt safe in doing this, it is a reliable platform (I did my research) and Dembo's family needed food.
Dembo and his family were stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty in a country with limited opportunities for those without foundational support. Unable to afford school, Dembo had no choice but to drop out. I reached out to Mr Faal, the principal of Madina Senior Secondary School, and this is what he had to say -

"It was really with great pleasure and honour to hear from you concerning about one of our noble student who was once our student before ,But had to leave school due to poor background of his family which this family were not able to finance his schooling during these days .

The little I know about Dembo ,When it comes to education he was so devoted and He was hard-working which everyone known him for that. He has represented the school in so many academic competitions and in which he has given good names to school. He was polite ,respectfuly student to all this staffs and he was an outstanding student."

I put together the money to re-enroll Dembo in school and every day, I hear from him about his life and progress. Dembo's grandma has showered so many good blessings on me and their joy is so contagious!
He's in the 10th grade now, looking very clever in his new uniform!

Since Dembo started school, his landlord has been pressurising him to pay rent, thinking he has money now. Dembo has till the end of May to pay this rent (or his family will be evicted), and his landlord will come calling every month even when we pay this month. Food (via Terangas) costs money every month. Dembo walks thirty minutes to school each way in the African sun. Commute costs money. I hope for Dembo to have electricity, his own phone and access to the internet, so he is able to study and succeed. It is his desire to do well at school so he may find a good job and support his younger siblings to go to school, in turn, and lead good lives.

In his village, there are few opportunities for Dembo to earn money and if we are able to buy him a taxi, he will be able to be self sufficient in his needs. I am raising money to help with Dembo's monthly expenses (Rs 20,000/month) until it is possible to buy him a taxi (Rs. 2,00,000).