Support Suwaibou's Fight Against Poverty (UPDATE!)

November 2024:

I have a very important update that I am putting to the top of this description. I'll give a lot more details in an update post. Suwaibou needs back surgery. In 2023, he took a perilous journey across Northern Africa to try to get to Italy, as many from The Gambia do because of widespread poverty, limited job opportunities, and low income levels. The journey, which lasted 7 months and with incredibly harrowing experiences, resulted in a fall that Suwaibou took from a mountainside in Algeria, and he injured his back. For the past several months, the back pain was manageable and Suwaibou thought it would get better. But now he has been to a couple of doctors who all agree that surgery is needed. The surgery will cost around $2,500, so I have added this amount to the fundraising goal. Time is of the essence with this, because Suwaibou is in constant pain with this injury. We really need your help quickly and efficiently.

Please help with this latest need of Suwaibou through sharing, donating, and encouraging Suwaibou.

I will put more information in an update, so be looking for it.

~Karin

My name is Karin and I am a 56 year old mother in Boulder, Colorado. I had the opportunity to connect with a young man living in The Gambia, which is an impoverished small country in West Africa. While rich in beauty and warm people, The Gambia is one of the most materially needy places on the planet. According to the World Bank the urban settlement of Brikama (the location of the person these funds are going to) is "home to 307,501 poor people or 48% of the poor, the highest number of poor people in the country." (Source)

I am fundraising for Suwaibou Ceesay, 20 years old, who became the caretaker and breadwinner for his three younger siblings in 2018 when he was only 14 years old. In 2017 his mother passed away from complications due to untreated high blood pressure. In 2018, his father succumbed to age and stress as well. This left Suwaibou to take care of his sisters (10 and 7 at the time, now 16 and 13) and a little brother (who was 5 when his father died and now is 11).

This is Suwaibou.

Suwaibou has struggled to keep his family fed and safely housed. The children need to go to school and Suwaibou wants to finish his education, too. They need money for back and current rent, funds for regular food, and also for education. Rent costs around $90 a month -- a year of rent is $1,080. The school fees for one child add up (there is technically no tuition in The Gambia, and education is free, but there are school uniforms, books, and supplies that have to be purchased and many cannot afford these things [Source ]). It's about $300 per year for each child to go to school. Food is not expensive by U.S. standards, but it adds up and keeping children fed is not easy when there are not ways to make a good income due to lack of education and jobs.

I know that there are scammers in The Gambia, but I have already given money to Suwaibou through a grocery app (groceries were delivered and he showed the delivery to me). I supplied mosquito nets and beds, and he showed me what was purchased as well. We have had video calls and he is who he says he is. Suwaibou has a great track record of being honest about the things he has needed and which I have helped with. I have also purchased some clothing for his sisters, and he was kind enough to send photos of them wearing the clothes he got for them with money I sent. Suwaibou is resourceful and is doing as best he can to care for his sisters and brother.

However, I am at the end of my ability to keep assisting alone. I can't give more than I have already as I also have to pay my own bills and I'm supporting family members and a medical student in Egypt as well. I said that I would set up a GoFundMe for Suwaibou so he can fundraise and what he raises I am able to send to him.

I will ask Suwaibou to provide updates about what he is able to do with the funds he raises here, and I will share them. The main concern is to help Suwaibou and the children with their education because escaping the trap of poverty in The Gambia can come through better education. Most employment comes through agriculture, but tourism is a growing area of employment in The Gambia [Source]. Education is a hope to better things.

Please help Suwaibou escape the cycle of poverty and secure a better future for himself and his siblings.