Improving the quality of education for Gambians is one of the cornerstones of GambiaHELP’s mission. One way in which we have been able to focus on education is through our Book Project, whereby GambiaHELP has distributed over 50,000 books to rural schools and resource centers around the country.

In some ways, it was a natural progression for us to consider how we might bring computer technology into Gambian schools. Not only would the students learn valuable hardware and software skills, but they would have access to an infinitely wide range of information that would always be current, something that our book project could never provide. In early 2001, we began to lay down the framework for a project that would allow us to build web-ready computer labs in two rural, yet academically strong senior secondary schools in the Gambia: Nasir Ahmadiyya Senior Secondary School in Basse, and Armitage Senior Secondary School in Janjangbureh.

We teamed up with staff and students from Garfield High School’s computer technology department, and Rotary District’s 5030 Computers for the World, both of whom have completed similar projects in other parts of the world. Together we began the year-long process of pulling together the project.

In February of 2002, eight Garfield High School students spent two weeks in the Gambia, building the computer labs and teaching a key group of students and staff at each school the skills necessary to keep the labs up and running. Peace Corps volunteers will initially provide computer instruction at the schools, to eventually be replaced by full-time Gambian computer instructors.

We would like to thank our sponsors and partners for helping to make this project a success: funding was provided by the Rotary Club of Emerald City, Rotary’s District 5030, and Rotary International. Individual Rotary members and other members of the community provided additional funding to pay for student airfare, and donated software for the labs. Pentium computers were donated by Premera Blue Cross.

We would also like to thank Rotary’s Computers for the World for partnering with us and for their undying commitment to bridging the digital divide.

Your old Pentium III and above computer can help a student learn vital computer skills and provide them with access to educational materials currently out of reach to most Gambian students. Hardware and software donations are tax deductible. Ifyou wish to donate, please contact Shelby Tarutis at 206.542.3056 or via email or to make a cash donation to this project using the Pay Pal link below.

Press Release on the GambiaHelp Computer Project.