With just £5 a month, you can sponsor a child in The Gambia, helping their family pay school fees and other associated costs such as the compulsory uniform, books, stationery and a nutritious school lunch. In return, you will receive an annual photo and a yearly school report. But much more importantly, you will know that you are making a very real difference in that child’s life, now, and in the future.

Ten-year old Gibril and his family live in a rented mud-brick hut. His father is a tailor, making school uniforms and clothes for the local community on a treadle sewing machine set up outside their hut. His mother buys fish that she smokes and sells at market, along with the few vegetables she can grow. The family are determined to keep their children in school, but were struggling to do so given the little income they bring in.

But then Gibril received a sponsorship through the Farakunku Foundation. The sponsorship paid for the school registration fees, as well as a new school bag full of pens, pencils and exercise books, a pair of shoes, fabric for two sets of school uniform, and still some money was left over to pay for school lunches. Gibril’s family also had enough to buy him a second-hand bike so that he could get to school. That bike is his pride and joy and he looks after it with great care.

Gibril is a sunny and smart little boy who loves his lessons and studies hard, attaining fifth place in his class of 44, according to his latest report. Without sponsorship, Gibril probably wouldn’t be in school at all.

Sign up today by emailing alex@farakunku.org to sponsor a child like Gibril and change a life forever. If you have any questions or would like more information, please do ask us or see if it’s one of the frequently asked questions we’ve already answered.

You can also support the Farakunku Foundation by making an online donation or setting up a fundraising page if you are thinking of taking on your own sponsored event.

We will use the money to help children and young people to get an education and stay healthy and well.