Letter from the Board

Greetings to the north, south, east, and west of Norway.

We on the Butterfly Friends board are working hard for all the students and staff at our schools in The Gambia. Our new board now also includes a former principal who has been involved with Butterfly Friends through a school project for 10 years. This has given us the opportunity to take a closer look at how the schools are organized and to present new guidelines to all staff members. Despite a few challenging years, we are now optimistic about the future.

Sales at our thrift store in Vikersund are still going strong—now in its 10th year—and we’re also in the process of collecting school furniture, clothing, and other supplies for the container shipment leaving on October 1.

As you can see, we’re working full steam ahead for the students and staff at Butterfly Friends. We’d like to continue doing so, but we need your help to keep providing the quality education that all Butterfly Friends students receive today.

For 200 kroner per month, you can help support a student with 15 years of free education: three years in preschool, six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school. In addition, the funds go toward providing a hot lunch every day for all our students and staff, all school supplies, uniforms, fixed expenses such as electricity and water, and staff salaries.

Butterfly Friends has a total of seven school buildings located in Brikama, Bakalar, Ebo Town, and New Jeshwang. All the schools have school furniture from Norway. Over the years, we have sent 47 large containers filled with gifts from generous supporters, and there are many wonderful people who have stood by us throughout all 19 years that Butterfly Friends has been working in The Gambia.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept everyone who wants to enroll in our schools. Butterfly Friends has always prioritized providing an education to girls, who are often not allowed to attend school because boys’ education is prioritized in The Gambia. Regardless of gender, many of those who enroll in our schools are the first in their families to receive an education.

A mother came to the school one day in June 2021. She had great difficulty walking, but she said, “I wanted to come to the school because I wanted to thank you in person; without Butterfly Friends, my son would have been stuck at home—today he’s in his third year of medical school.” Butterfly Friends has many former students out there who are studying or working. Education is the key to the future.

Butterfly Friends doesn’t just help students—we have 220 employees who receive a monthly salary, and they all have families of their own to support. That’s a lot of people!

Butterfly Friends is helping to build up the country of The Gambia, and we can do that together with you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message, and we wish you a wonderful day.

Butterfly Friends is looking for many sponsors for its school project in The Gambia. Would you like to help Butterfly Friends? Send your name, address, email, and cell phone number to sponsor@butterflyfriends.no or via text message to 906 52 378.

Butterfly Friends is a tax-deductible organization.

Girls at the middle school express their gratitude to their Norwegian sponsors. ❤

We wish you all a wonderful week. Best regards from the Board of Butterfly Friends. 🦋