Key points regarding the operation of Butterfly Friends.

For three years, a small group of people has been sending emails and messages, posting on Facebook, and trying to persuade sponsors to stop supporting Butterfly Friends. We find this incredibly sad, and we are deeply concerned about the consequences this will have for the people in The Gambia who are completely dependent on the support they receive from us. We have tried to establish a better dialogue with those who have previously been strong supporters of Butterfly Friends but who, unfortunately, have in recent years tended to work against the organization. Regrettably, we have not succeeded in this.

We are therefore very reluctant to continue a dispute over various incidents and other matters that have occurred during the years BF has been running schools in The Gambia, as this will most likely only perpetuate this focus.

There are issues being raised that were addressed and resolved several years ago. Regarding children who have dropped out of school, it is true that a few children have dropped out without this being reported to their sponsors within what would be considered a reasonable timeframe in Norway. This is because our Gambian staff have been responsible for reporting to us, since we are unable to be in The Gambia year-round, and not everyone has recognized the importance of reporting all cases immediately. We fully understand that sponsors want updates about their sponsored children, and we try to ensure that everyone receives them—which the vast majority certainly do. After this issue was raised in 2017, we have given the principals at each school specific responsibility for following up on this to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. It is important for us to point out that the money paid “in good faith” by the sponsors in question has gone toward exactly the same purpose as before: food and education for the poorest people in The Gambia.

This made sense given that in 2016, NOK 20,000 was used to rent a car. Had Anbjørg brought this up with the board, she would have been given permission to purchase a car.

Regarding school uniforms: All students have uniforms, but not all of them received new ones every year. The parents are very grateful to have their children attending Butterfly Friends’ schools, as the organization provides the children with 15 years of free education. Butterfly Friends’ sponsors pay for their sponsored children’s uniforms. If all students at our schools had their own sponsors, everything would be much simpler. Unfortunately, we do not have a sponsor for every single student, so school supplies, hot lunches for 2,000 students and 220 staff members, and salaries have been prioritized. If some parents have to buy a uniform for their children—in exchange for receiving all these other things for free—we’ve gotten the impression that they’re perfectly fine with it. It’s not that they didn’t have uniforms to wear, but some of them were probably quite worn out. The students have since received new uniforms, but at that particular time, this wasn’t at the top of the priority list. It’s quite possible that some parents mention this to their sponsors, hoping the sponsors will give them a few extra kroner. After all, they have very few resources themselves and are doing everything they can to give their children a better life. We work in The Gambia with proud, wonderful people who are willing to do anything for their children, and Butterfly Friends helps provide support and education.

There are a lot of baseless accusations and rumors being spread. We really hope we can put an end to this. Anbjørg started this organization 18 years ago, and Butterfly Friends has accomplished an incredible amount and helped many lives in The Gambia during this time. We’ve scraped by many times to make this work, and Anbjørg and her husband are among those who have used their own funds to keep things running.

Of course, there are some things over the course of these 18 years that could have been done differently, but the goal has always been to do what’s best for our Gambian students and staff. There are certainly

some things the organization could have documented better. At the same time, one must be aware of—and to a certain extent accept—that conditions in The Gambia are completely different from those in Norway in this regard.

Perhaps we should instead focus on how many children and young people have been helped over the years, and on the fact that many of our students have achieved outstanding grades. Five of Butterfly Friends’ students have graduated with the highest exam scores in The Gambia. In 2019, Butterfly Friends High School was ranked fourth out of Gambia’s 123 high schools.

To date, we have run a school project with over 2,000 students across all grade levels up through high school. This requires 220 staff members. Given this context, it is paradoxical that some people have recently focused primarily on mistakes made several years ago. This may seem disrespectful to all those who have done so much for this project, which is dedicated to helping many people in The Gambia build a better life for themselves.

What we really need, rather, are more supporters who can help us maintain the operations of the schools we have established. In the worst-case scenario, we otherwise risk having to close the middle school and high school.

The Board of Butterfly Friends.