Initial Fundraising Target Met

On July 3rd, 2018, Penda Jallow received a brief, life changing phone call. "Penda, you will be attending St. Thomas Aquinas College in the fall," Ashleigh informed her. "We have secured the necessary funding to support your four year education." After working tirelessly for the last two years, the Starling Sponsorship Program team had finally witnessed their first success.

For Penda, this news could not have come a minute later. Penda's parents had told her last year that they could no longer wait for the Starling Sponsorship Program to iron out the logistics of her college education. They could no longer afford to provide for her so they had arranged a marriage for her to her cousin.Penda was breathless with excitement when we shared the news with her although she repeatedly asked us not to forget about Adama and Awa. Penda will start her freshman year as a Liberal Arts & Sciences major to allow her the opportunity to try classes in a variety of areas.

We are currently working in tandem with the government of The Gambia to secure a student visa for Penda and are in the process of finding her a host family in the Rockland County area. The Starling Sponsorship Program would like to thank the staff at St. Thomas Aquinas College for all of their continued support.  Additionally, The Honorable Dawda Fadera, Ambassador of The Gambia to the United States and Mustapha Sosseh, Deputy Head of Mission, were instrumental to our success and we very much appreciate and are grateful for the help they provided. Finally, we want to recognize the support from and dedication of all of our amazing donors, because without them, this would not have been possible.

We hope that by supporting Penda’s education in the United States, the Starling Sponsorship Program is creating a path for other Gambian scholarship programs and universities to follow suit. The Republic of the Gambia is succeeding  in their transition to a peaceful democracy and we believe that when Penda returns to her country with an American degree, she will be equipped to institute real change. Penda wants to become a nurse to help eradicate preventable diseases in The Gambia that kill so many Gambians, especially children. She believes that providing accessible and affordable healthcare is the only way to combat the devastation of preventable diseases like malaria.

Penda, age 23, carrying water to her home from the village well.