Latest Kabafita Fund updates

Hello everyone. I hope you are all well and getting through this latest lockdown.

Please find below the latest trek reports from Sarjo.

It has been disappointing to not be able to visit The Gambia over the last year, but this has not stopped the charity continuing its work. I've been able to get the necessary funds to Sarjo, and more is due to be sent out in February. 

Sarjo is doing an amazing job representing the Kabafita Fund and I'm so pleased that he has been able to continue our work without the interruptions that we have been experiencing here in the UK.

I am so grateful for all his hard work, and, as ever, thank you to you for your ongoing support.

I just hope that I will be able to visit again at some point this year!

All the very best

Barbara​

Tuesday 8th December 2020

Hello Barbara
 
Hope things are getting better for Covid 19 in UK. We have had no new cases for a long time and hope everything is back to normal for us.
 
Karror have re-started the poultry business and it is looking very good. I am very happy with them because they were very hungry during with no food except the bags of rice you sometime gave them, but they manage to keep the poultry money up to now and now their business is going again..
 
Kayaborr, have dried more than 300 bags of okra, 700 bags of cassava, and 70 bags of baobab leaves. They all wanted me to phone you whilst I was there for them to thank you very much and for them to sing for you on the phone – I couldn’t because they have no WhatsApp connection.
 
Kajamo women’s group also doing wonderful with their drying business. They have dried 211 bags of cassava and 40 bags of sweet potatoes.
 
So am so happy that the solar dryer projects are going so well.
 
Thank you once more again for helping the women’s groups in this difficult time of Covid 19
 
Also thank you so much for the rice to Karror and Kayaborr.
 
Sarjo d

Monday 21 December 2020

Dear Barbara

Hope all of you are safe from the Covid 19 - it is still not looking good over there, but for us here everything is fine and we are moving around. The President is on his “meet the farmers” tour up country.

Jumjai women’s group has 174 women. This is the first time they have been helped, and they are so happy that their okra, sweet potato and also pumpkin will be saved once dried. They cannot do anything when their garden harvest is in season and most of the vegetables rot. The road to their village is very bad and we find it difficult to get through but we persevere because they do a lot of preparations for us and near-by villages came to attend.

In Kusama, both women and men were at the handing-over. The women recommended the men to me saying they are very helpful to them when it time of watering and transporting. They have to walk 3 or 4 kilometers to reach the low land where they grow tomatoes, okra, sweet potatoes and onions. We also train them on pepper sauce and tomato jam and they are very happy because most of their tomatoes rot.

Kafenken village has a beautiful garden and we train them on jam and pepper sauce. We also have a beautiful lunch among the 3 communities, they are a bit well off but have never been trained.

I stop at mum because she was ill and spent four days with her. She is better now but my sister will stay with her for a while because I have to get ready for the next trek on the 29 and 30. Everyone on the list is asking for us, but we have to do it a month at a time. Next time will be only food training but in January, we will provide dryers for the West Coast womens’ groups together with food training.

Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Looking forward to see you in March God wish.

Sarjo

Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Dear Barbara

It was nice talking to you on phone.

The trek and the visits are very successful,

The handing over of the dryers to Kamamen and Wulla women's groups are among the best. They both have beautiful gardens with lots of okra, pepper, sweet potato and bitter tomatoes. They never have a dryer and this is a history for them because people promise them and they never fulfil it. They thank the Kabafita Fund for doing what they promise. One group started drying immediately we handover the dryer to them, while the bigger group will call the whole village for a meeting to decide whether to do it as a group or by families or compounds.

It was also a nice visit to Kakiling women’s group. They have dried lots of pumpkin, which they grow lots of and some baobab leaves in bags. But rather than selling them, they are keeping them for themselves and the nearby villages which don't have dryers and can’t dry product for themselves.

In Kajali women’s group they have dried more than 300 bags of cassava, and more than 100 bags of okra and are now ready to include sweet potatoes and baobab leaves.

Our last trek will be February 6th and 7th.

Thank you so much once more and I pray that covid 19 be away from Europe and the world.

Wishing you all the best

Sarjo Dawda