The Gambia Update

For those of you who have been following the activities of the Blake Foundation, you're probably thinking that it's high time there was another update on the 600 SchoolBags we sponsored to further the education of disadvantaged children in The Gambia...

It seems a lifetime away, but is in reality just over 3 months since the Blake team collaborated with our partners at School in a Bag to send these on their way in a container alongside the 600 pairs of shoes we collected for those youngsters who are without this basic essential as well as other educational resources and classroom furniture.

Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that these supplies still haven’t been distributed, despite their safe arrival in Faraba Banta with our friends Ginger and Sol, founders of the Gambian Skoolz 4 Kids charity.

Living with a superb National Health Service here in the UK, we are apt to take so much for granted and little realise how massively the lives of those in developing countries have been affected at the current time.

Our thoughts should be with The Gambia. The small West African country has been very severely impacted by the pandemic and its health service is crumbling under the weight of the deadly virus. Communicator of the Gambia Red Cross Society Modou Touray has described the situation as “alarming”, with death rates high and cases rising by over 70% in the last week alone. The hospitals are sadly lacking in supplies, with no ventilators or oxygen and one hospital not even having any paracetamol to help relieve their patients.

The government have just declared a 90 day lockdown and Sol tells us he isn’t leaving his house at all. This, of course, has kept the schools closed too. 

It’s important that we realise how fortunate we are, but also to realise how, in a country like The Gambia, ensuring the younger generation have access to a good education is probably the only way to change the status quo, give them hope and pave the way for a brighter future.

With this said, we very much hope the situation in The Gambia will improve soon, and look forward to updating you on any further news we receive!