YOU CAN HELP US CHANGE LIVES!
Help villagers to help themselves since a hand up is more practical and has a longer lasting effect than giving endless handouts! Donate to help finish and establish a Community Cooperative Shop.
Help Jamma and her soap making friends become self-sufficient. They will be amongst those using the shop to make a meagre living for themselves.
Donate to the Vehicle For Batti Appeal. Help Omar to cut transport expenses, leaving more money to spend on important urgent issues such as saving lives through paying for malaria treatments, by donating to this cause. We were involved in a freak accident in which our Taxi which we used to travel to Batti transporting goods and donated items to the village was destroyed. We were lucky to walk away from the wreckage alive and unharmed, but it has been a tremendous blow to us. We want to be able to spend much of the Transportation Costs on lifesaving medical treatment, food for the hungry and on sustainable development of the village.
Be part of Operation Batti Christmas every year. Show your love by giving needy children a wonderful Christmas.
We have been working hard to develop the village of Batti Hi in the Gambia. It needs a Community cooperative shop to create sustainable employment. Work stopped on this multi-functional building which will be used as a Charity Distribution Centre, First Aid Post and Shop when the rainy season brought work to a stop and our Funds also ran out. We need £3,500 to finish the building as a matter of urgency. This was the original estimate and the longer we leave it the higher the prices may go, and in the meantime, we can’t use it fully to its intended purpose. Time is of the essence and we need all the help we can get. We need YOUR help. The Gambia is the smallest, poorest country in the continent of Africa. This village has over 1,500 inhabitants living in primitive mud block huts. They are wonderful, sociable people. There is no electricity, no sanitation and there is no safe clean water. Much is needed and helping build the shop will help them earn money to help themselves. A hand up is better than always giving handouts.
TO DATE WE HAVE ACHIEVED A LOT THROUGH THE HELP OF SUPPORTERS:
We provide rice and cooking oil for a FREE SCHOOL DINNERS scheme at Batti Ndaar School to ensure that Child Nutrition is improved.
We provided Gardening Tools for the School’s Vegetable Garden.
We ensure that no child will be without Free School Supplies and parents will not have to worry about buying basic things like pencils, pens and exercise books.
We have built up a School Library with culturally appropriate reading materials.
We provided the School Office with a new desk and wall clock.
The Nursery Class was provided with child sized colourful furniture and storage units as well as Teaching Resources.
We have arranged Sponsorship for 39 children to be in school.
9 Widows are now making a small living as chicken farmers or egg sellers due to our provision of two laying hens to each of them.
We regularly pay for Testing and Treatment of Malaria cases and other illnesses.
We have a Community Freezer and Generator which makes ice for villagers’ Ice Boxes.
We provided Solar Universal Phone Chargers and Camping lights to help until more can be done.
A supporter provided a second generator and Solar Lighting system for the multi-functional building we are working on.
We support the work of the male Nurse/Midwife who cycles through the villages monthly, from a Clinic 15 miles away. He is provided with Medical Equipment and Supplies on a regular basis.
We have supplied the School with a First Aid Cabinet and Book and keep the cabinet replenished.
Our brother Bye-morr has also been provided with a First Aid Kit and training as a voluntary First Aider.
Our sister Jabou voluntarily runs Dental Health Days and gives out Free Tooth Paste and Tooth Brushes. She also cooks for the eldely.
Portable camping toilets were provided for three bedbound elderly ill villagers.
We have planted a Mixed Fruit Orchard to provide a healthy, nutritious addition to children’s diets instead of giving out Multi-Vitamins though we will continue to monitor the health and welfare of the village children.
We have carried out a lot of almost monthly distributions, but the main ones are the bigger distributions. These are Christmas, Easter, Ramadan, and Eid (known as Tobaski in the Gambia) where we can provide for the entire village and others who come from neighbouring villages and isolated farms. Estimated numbers reached have been from 1,500+ to over 6,000 people. All voluntary work.
WE HAVE MUCH TO DO…
We have land which needs fenced and is big enough to use as an “Allotment type” Community Gardening Scheme. Women’s Gardens are common in the Gambia and some men are also interested in having a secure garden where grazing animals and wild animals can’t get at the crops.
WE NEED FUNDS TO KEEP IT ALL RUNNING. SUSTAINABILITY IS ESSENTIAL IN ALL WE DO.
Please invest in Batti’s future. Be a vital part of change and sustainable development in the smallest, poorest country in Africa. Thank you!
