I've raised £4000 to fund an 8 week course for the "No Woman Left Behind" programme in The Gambia" for vulnerable women
Organised by Sharon Naylor
Story
"No Woman Left Behind" is a brilliant NEW course in The Gambia, West Africa for young women who have been exploited, trafficked or treated badly at the hands of others.
Hello I’m Sharon and I am in the middle of volunteering and co-writing a college course, for a group of vulnerable women in The Gambia, called "No Woman Left Behind". The course is being run by the Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia
These 30 women have been exposed and exploited at the hands of others. Their country, where the economy depends mainly on tourism, has been devastated by the effects of Covid. No visitors means no income.
. Here's Fatou's story (above in centre):
I was trafficked to Lebanon with the expectation that I was going to get a good job there. However, it was a different thing because when I got there I was working as a housemaid and a nanny, in which, I struggled so hard and it was so difficult for 3 years. My contract was suppose to end in 3yrs but I escaped after the first year because I worked from 7am to 2am and I was treated inhumanely. When this project came my way, I was very happy to full fill my dreams because it's a scholarship. The project, No Woman Left Behind, fulfilled my dream to have something I always wanted to do in life and I will have a skill and be certificated at the end of the project. The project also helped me to form an association to help other girls who returned back to the Gambia after being trafficked.
This course gives these women a real chance to learn new skills, to help them make their own way in life and to become self-reliant for themselves and their children
However, after running smoothly for one year, the sponsors of the course have pulled their backing and the second year of the course is now in jeopardy. Without funding the second year of the course cannot go ahead.
As an emergency stop gap solution we are raising funds to back a short 8 week course instead.
Year 1 (which they have just completed) was all about learning catering and hospitality skills as The Gambia is heavily reliant on tourism. Year 2 was to be all about learning business skills, job seeking skills and personal development. We are focussed on helping them to set up their own small businesses and find jobs within the tourism industry.
