Dear sponsors and supporters!

A very happy New Year to all of you!

Butterfly Friends can once again look back on a great year filled with many wonderful experiences with
students, staff, and mentors.

Today, we have 2,000 students who receive 15 years of free education, starting with preschool and culminating in
three years of high school. Only Butterfly Friends Preschool in Bakalar, which has 110 students, provides three
years of instruction before they move on to Gambian public school.
We have well-trained teachers from both teacher training colleges and universities, which is why our schools
rank among the best in The Gambia. In the second year we graduated high school students, Butterfly Friends School ranked
fourth among The Gambia’s 123 high schools.
In 2019, we also had one of the top-performing students on the junior high school exam, and this is
the second time we’ve had this happen in two years. The first time was in 2017, when we had two outstanding girls who were
the best in The Gambia.

In preschool, when the children first start, they primarily speak their local language, which is Mandinka
or Wolof. Young children learn quickly, so by the end of their first school year, they can speak a little
English, and after three years, they can both read and write simple English. Butterfly Friends uses an
English language and reading program called Jolly Ponhicks, which provides students with a better and easier
way to learn.

Elementary school provides students with six years of quality education, followed by three years of middle school, and concluding
with three years of high school. During this time, there are tests, midterms
twice a year, and final exams for graduating students.
Our students are invited to participate in various competitions. For example, there are spelling bees for students in both
Brikama and New Jeshwang, and our students consistently place first, second, or third.
Five students from the first year of junior high school were invited to a career guidance session along with
many other students from other schools—a workshop at the Regional Office in Banjul, where a
well-educated Gambian engineer with degrees from London provided information about engineering
education.

Some of the Butterfly Friends students at New Jeshwang are working on environmental issues and are participating in a
competition to identify effective environmental initiatives.

A major vaccination program has been launched in The Gambia, led by the Ministry of Health and
the Minister of Health. All girls from fourth through eighth grade are being
vaccinated against cervical cancer. Our schoolgirls have already been vaccinated. Thank you for this peace of mind.
Butterfly Friends’ wonderful ladies in Arendal have supported the health center for many years,
but now they’ve had to step down, which is sad. These ladies have supported the health center by covering salaries and
medication costs for 12 years; we can only say a thousand heartfelt thanks to all of you—you’ve made an
extraordinary effort… but you’re not giving up entirely, and we’re so grateful for that. This means that, together
with these wonderful ladies and two women from Tromsø, we can now keep the maternity ward up and running.

This means peace of mind for all expectant mothers who wish to come to the Butterfly Friends Health Center.
We have approximately 230 births per year. Midwife Sukai will continue
to work on family planning and contraception. The laboratory and the vaccination program for babies will also remain in place. We’re working to
raise more funds, and we’re so fortunate to have yet another woman from Tromsø who’s also committed to
the health center. A thousand heartfelt thanks to all of you.

You sponsors can be very proud of and support the Butterfly Friends students. They are
well-educated in both academics and character development; they study extra every Saturday at school (in most
homes there is no table, chair, or electricity, so they study at school). Those
preparing for exams in elementary school (sixth grade), middle school, and high school study
extra hard and often stay in the classrooms late into the evening. Young people in The Gambia are very
eager to make something of themselves; they want to study, and they are so eager to get a good education. One of our wonderful girls
says, “We’re not here just to be wives, have children, and cook—we want a career, a
good future, and we can do everything that men can.” Hooray—now the girls in
Africa are getting involved, too. …And remember, it’s together with you that Butterfly Friends is helping to give them this
opportunity….

Some of the Butterfly Friends students are in college, and we have two girls in India studying
to become doctors—thanks to the support of our sponsors.

That’s what’s so wonderful about being a sponsor with Butterfly Friends—we’re all helping to shape
The Gambia into a better place to live, giving young people opportunities; we’re simply helping to
build up the country, and we should all be proud of that. Helping those who have
no opportunities, because they have the same dreams and hopes that we all have.
Butterfly Friends has some excellent supporters among young students who want to help.
Rosthaug/Buskerud High School, Sigdal Middle School, and Roligheden
Middle School in Arendal—together, they’ve raised over 200,000 kroner.
These exceptional young students are providing support to Butterfly Friends’ students and schools.
Buskerud County Council contributed 50,000, and Modum Sparebank donates 12,000 annually.
The Grasrotandelen lottery also provides valuable support, and if you’d like to help the next time you play, our organization’s
number is 985 457 840.

Many people support the students of Butterfly Friends. The women at the Butterfly Friends Thrift Store at
Vikersundgaten 10 have been volunteering for eight years.
A big thank you to all our generous donors and customers—our store is doing very well, thanks
to all of you. On weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you’ll meet one of our
smiling and friendly ladies.

A thousand heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and supporters—you are the backbone of Butterfly Friends; without
you, there would be no schools and no children in school. If you know anyone who’d like to get involved and help, we’d
be so grateful—our 52 first-year high school students are hoping for sponsorship support for three
years.

Every month, 230 employees need to be paid; everyone receives a hot meal every day, plus electricity, water, internet, and
uniforms—which are now sewn on-site, as we have our own tailor working at the school. This
amounts to several hundred thousand sent to The Gambia each month.
Butterfly Friends has built everything up through volunteer efforts—but in order to provide all students and
staff with good support and keep everything running smoothly, we constantly need dedicated sponsors and supporters
who can help us—and remember, you are one of them.
Thank you again for all your help and support.
With warm regards to all of you from the ladies at the Butterfly Friends Thrift Store, Vikersundgaten
10: Berit Edquist, Inger Johanne Grøstad, Ellen Pandur, Aud Olander, and Olaug Nes.

Warm regards from Chairperson Heidi Solberg and
Board Members Kristin Vik, Ellen Pandur, Odd Magne Dahlen, and Anbjørg Juliussen.

Anbjørg Juliussen
Cell: 906 52 378
Email: sponsor@butterflyfriends.no