Field report (HIV/AIDS) from Bakoteh, Gambia

When all family members put their hands together to improve their situation, things can change fast and the tunnel is no longer so long and dark. Read the story of Yama and her three children, beneficiaries of the family strengthening programme of SOS Children The Gambia.

Walking Hand in Hand Towards Self-Reliance

The family strengthening programme of SOS Children's Villages The Gambia mainly supports orphans and children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS living in extreme poverty. Yama's three children are among the 340 child beneficiaries of the programme. Enrolled on the programme in September 2005, the family is today just within an ace to be independent and self-reliant.

Surviving
Yama was married twice, but lost her two husbands. Her second husband passed away in 2001 and left her with no resources and three children to fend for - two boys (Mbye, now 15, and Malik, 12) and a girl (Aisatou, 10). Struggling to make her family survive, Yama put her self-esteem aside and started begging in the street to support her family.

But being reliant on people's generosity to get something to eat and to send your children to school is not the life one could wish for a family. Some days it works, but most of the days children go hungry and are sent out of school for not paying their fees in time. And God knows how long is takes to regulate the situation and join the school benches again.

Getting a chance to become "somebody" someday

Initially referred to the family strengthening programme coordinator, Kumba N'dure by a co-worker who felt concerned about the situation of the children, the family was visited for further assessment. Kumba was deeply touched by their situation; they all wanted to come out of this misery but just did not have any means to do so. The children were affected by the loss of their father, but the lack of food and the inability to attend school normally was even more a concern to them.

Identification of family strengthening programme beneficiaries by individuals is an unusual procedure. Normally children are identified by a committee from the community, to guaranty the community's participation and involvement in helping needy children. The child beneficiaries are then jointly selected with SOS Children's Villages after thorough verification of their situation.

By that time, Yama had managed to engage herself in a tiny home-made couscous selling business, but her income was far from sufficient to satisfy her children's basic needs. Furthermore, she would sell the couscous in a very far-off marketable place, walking 20 kilometres a day to reach the place and not returning home before midnight. Especially in such conditions - Yama once just managed to escape rape on her way home - this could not have been a long-term solution.

All the family needed was just a helping hand: some food supplement, a little house improvement and support with school fees for the children, while helping Yama to establish a 'safer' and closer business and supporting her with management and saving advice.

"Since SOS Children The Gambia is helping us, we have good beds to sleep on and mosquito nets to prevent us from having malaria", says Malik. "Before, we used to sleep on the floor, on cartons and mats covered with bed sheets. Now we are well rested to go to school, he adds. And the children need to be well rested: school is about one hour walk away from home. But Malik emphasises that "school is important; if you are well educated you will become somebody in the future".

On the way to independence

"Before, it was very difficult for me to take care of my family and I often thought of giving up. I used to beg from neighbours and well-wisher to be able to give a little bit of food to my family. Today, SOS Children's Villages is helping me to cater for my children's nutrition and education. They also supported me in setting up my little business (Yama received cooking ingredients to sell on a stall she identified in a close-by market place) and I really do not want to misuse my profits", explains Yama gratefully.

With the help of programme coordinator Kumba N'dure, Yama will soon open a saving account in one of the local microfinance institutions. "This is very new for her, like for many other women", explains Kumba, "and I will probably have to accompany her in the beginning to get her more acquainted and comfortable with the procedures. But soon this family will not need any support from the programme any more; in such a short period of time, they managed to change their situation substantially."

Yama gained back self-confidence and is very positive when it comes to her family's future. She is now concentrating all her efforts to make the best out off her business, with the wish to improve it and the dream of constructing a small house for her children on a land that was given to her family ten years ago in Yundum, by the chief of the village.

"Everything I do, I do it for them"

Being so much focussed on improving her family situation and being financially independent, Yama just regrets one thing: "I unfortunately do not have much time so far to spend with my children and give them all the attention they need. But everything I do, I do it for them..."

The children understand their mother is working hard for them and try their best to relief her from some house chores. "When she is in the market, I cook lunch" says Malik. "When I have time, I also help her in the market to carry and sell items like onions and tomatoes", he adds. Mbye helps his mother by taking care of his younger brother and sister. He also supervises their homework.

All understood that everyone had to contribute for a better family future. Yama can count on her children for support and they know she's doing her best for them, to improve their living conditions and give them better chances.

SOS Children has been working in The Gambia since 1981 and has two children's villages in the West of the country at Bakoteh, and on the eastern side at Basse. These children's villages care for a total of 190 children. A further 7,000 children and their families are cared for through family support such as training workshops, practical help as well as the SOS Mother and Child Clinic based at Bakoteh.

You can support children in The Gambia by sponsoring a child.