Letter to the Sponsors

Here is Anbjørg’s 2022 Sponsorship Letter—which she wrote after her last trip to The Gambia just before Christmas.

Vikersund, January 2022

Dear sponsors😊

Five weeks in Gambia, and it’s always a pleasure to visit all the Butterfly Friends schools—they’re bustling with life, filled with the students’ smiles, singing, and dancing.

Everything is running smoothly, with 2,000 students in class every day, and the students are being taught by excellent, well-educated teachers. We’re starting to see the results of this as the students graduate from high school.

I had meetings with the administration, the principals of all the schools, and the staff. We work with wonderful people, and that’s good to know. After all, 160,000 kr. is sent every month to cover lunch for both students and staff, school supplies, salaries, and fixed expenses like electricity and water at all the schools. The Butterfly Friends office manager handles all payments to ensure the money goes where it’s supposed to. Payrolls and fixed payments are approved from Norway before they’re disbursed. If salaries aren’t paid, students and staff don’t get lunch, the lights go out, and there’s no water—we’ll hear about it. So we can trust the people we work with in The Gambia.

We organized a graduation ceremony for the students who graduated from high school in 2021. Dinner at a restaurant with chicken and French fries—that’s what everyone wants—two drinks, and ice cream for dessert. Great joy and deep gratitude to all of you sponsors who support Butterfly Friends. It was a memorable afternoon with speeches and kind words for the students.

Those who graduated from high school in 2020 had their graduation ceremony when I was in The Gambia in May/June 2021.

We didn’t hold a graduation ceremony for preschool, elementary school, or middle school. It’s too expensive, so now it’s only for those graduating from high school. It’s sad, but we have to watch every penny to make ends meet.

We hope and wish to have more sponsors and supporters join us in the new year—we’re working toward that.

Many former Butterfly Friends students are studying both in The Gambia and around the world. We have medical students, nurses, midwives, teachers, and many are studying economics; one girl is in India studying agriculture. Butterfly has students at the vocational school in The Gambia, and Mariama is a good example of this.

Mariama, who didn’t have the opportunity to continue her studies after graduating from high school, enrolled in vocational school with a friend to train as an electrician. They were constantly told that girls don’t become electricians, but they did—and they also became certified solar panel installers. Today they have their own company—they’ve even been on Gambian TV—they’re truly making history! 😊 Wonderful girls. There are so many heartwarming stories these days.

It’s so wonderful—the girls are really stepping up; they now realize they can get the same jobs as the boys—now the girls want an education and a job. Hurray! Butterfly Friends isn’t just one of the country’s best school projects; we’re also helping well-educated Gambians.

The thrift store is doing well; we get so many nice items—it’s absolutely incredible what people donate—and we’re so grateful for their thoughtfulness. The ladies—Inger Johanne Grøstad, Ellen Pandur, Aud Olander, and Olaug Nes—work there every week! And they’ve been doing it for 10 years!! Everyone who works at Butterfly Friends does so on a volunteer basis. They’re wonderful women we can be proud of. The proceeds go toward fixed expenses such as the accounting office, electricity, and rent, and any surplus goes to The Gambia.

As you can see, we’re all committed to “our” students and staff.

Butterfly Friends is organizing a sponsorship trip from November 11 to 25, 2022. We’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Butterfly Friends launching its first school project. Sign up!

Follow us on Facebook and at www.butterflyfriends.no

Thank you all for your wonderful support; as I’ve written many, many times before: without you sponsors, there would be no schools in The Gambia.

We wish you all a peaceful and happy New Year—take care of one another. Greetings to you all from the Board of Butterfly Friends, on behalf of Anbjørg Juliussen. Cell: 906 52 368 Email: sponsor@butterflyfriends.no