Thank you so much for your generosity! Since we went so far over the original goal for $250 to buy the micro:bits, I have decided to combine this GoFundMe with a second GoFundMe I had planned to buy 10 Chromebooks for the school. So, I've raised the total goal to $2250, which will be enough to buy 12 micro:bits and 10 Chromebooks. This will be hugely impactful to the school and provide them with some desperately needed computer resources, not just for the bootcamp, but for them to use in many other classes.

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I'm a software developer based in Orlando, and I will be going to The Gambia in West Africa to teach a week-long bootcamp on the basics of programming at The Gambia Academy. I would like to take around a dozen BBC micro:bits with me for the students to use during the bootcamp. The $250 I am trying to raise should be enough to cover the cost of enough devices for the entire class.

The Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It does not have compulsory education and many students in rural areas don’t have the opportunity to go to school at all. The Gambia Academy is largely funded by a Gambian musician named Sona Jobarteh, who has a vision to help fix the education system there. The school doesn’t have a lot of money and is heavily dependent on donations and volunteers. I will be funding the entire trip plus any equipment I buy out of my own pocket and these funds I am raising will just offset what I’ve already spent (or will spend). Depending on the success of this GoFundMe, I will be doing a follow on campaign to hopefully buy some Chromebooks.

The students are eager to learn but because of lack of funds and equipment this will be their first exposure to anything like this. The school got their first computers last year, and for many of them it was the first computer that they ever touched! Any equipment I can take with me will be a huge help to them.