About five years ago, very early in the pandemic, Mom had a new follower on her Instagram. The young man (at the time he was 15 years old) started following Mom because of the posts she made about us, her dogs. This young man’s name is Babucarr. He lives in The Gambia, a tiny country in West Africa, completely surrounded by Senegal. He started making comments about the dogs, how much he loved the beautiful walks we took, etc. Eventually, he reached out to Mom via a direct message, and they struck up a friendship. Of course, at the beginning, Mom was very suspicious that he was a scammer, as unfortunately so many are from that part of the world. But the difference is this young man never asked for anything, just friendship. He shared stories of his childhood, how he had three younger siblings at the time, no father involved in his life, and an ill mother. He told Mom about his school, his dog named King, his life gathering wood in a forest to resell to small hotels, and struggles of his daily life. He has been the father figure to his siblings since he was 12. He only vaguely remembers his father. His mother has been a housekeeper, and has recently fallen ill. About three months ago, he lost his 12-year-old sister Andi to malaria. As you can imagine, life has been incredibly hard on this young man. Again, he has never once asked for financial help, only friendship and advice occasionally (Should he stay in school? Should he drop out to try to find work?) He recently turned 20 and is at a crossroads in his life. He is trying to stay in school, and provide for his family. His goal in life is to buy a donkey cart to help him continue to earn a living.

Would you consider making a small donation? As crazy as it sounds, everything in his country is incredibly expensive. Mom has been doing quite a bit of research and found out that even a large bag of rice to feed his family for a month is about $100 USD. Mom looked into sending him a care package, but there is so much corruption in the country, it is highly unlikely he would ever actually receive the package. It’s incredibly sad.

Every dollar raised will be sent to Babucarr using Western Union. They charge a nominal fee, and can send money securely. He will need to have a federal ID card, which he has, and the funds will be sent in a way that only he can pick them up.

If Mom could afford to send him the money for the donkey cart she would, but being a full-time volunteer with pet therapy doesn’t pay much. Again it’s totally OK to say no, but if a few of our friends are willing to help a little bit, we could truly change this young man’s life and the life if his sweet siblings.