WHAT ARE WE DOING

I traveled to Gambia recently to see firsthand the amazing work PennyAppeal USA is doing. We are building solar powered villages and fully sustainable communities for orphaned children in Gambia. By providing each child with all the essentials for their emotional, psychological, and physical growth, we can help every orphan chase a brighter future in the face of unspeakable loss.

With your help, we want to put smiles on the faces of orphans in Gambia. And keep them there.

We’re building a community centered around nurturing orphaned children. The village complex consists of ten modern homes, a health clinic, a mosque, an administrative building and a large play area (see pics below!). Each of the homes in the village houses 10 orphan children and together with a trained foster mother, they form a family. The community is designed to provide for the complete nurturing of each child through education, access to quality healthcare, and the love of a foster mother to tend to their emotional and psychological needs. Education is the great leveler. For the children in our Orphankind Village, education unlocks a brighter future.

Raising a child is about more than providing food and shelter; it’s about providing nourishment for their entire well-being. This program is designed to work with each child to monitor and improve their intellectual, psychological, emotional, and spiritual development. And by maintaining a culturally-sensitive approach, we can help each child stay connected with their local community.

Here is one solar powered village under construction. It is set to be done within the next month or so, iA.

Each home can house 10 orphans and includes:

- Living room

- Dining room

- Kitchen

- Air conditioning

- 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms

The OrphanKind Village will also include

- Health clinic

- Administrative building

- Play ground

- Mosque

- Education center

- Beautiful garden

WHO IS DOING IT

I personally traveled to Gambia myself and saw first hand this incredible effort PennyAppealUSA is doing. I can personally vouch for this as one of many efforts this fantastic non-profit has done to empower thousands of women and children around the world by uplifting them from poverty.

Each fully-sustainable solar powered home PennyAppeal is building in Gambia costs about $50,000 to construct and can house 10 orphans.

That means for $5,000, one orphaned child in Gambia can live in a happy, healthy home and nurtured in a loving environment. That’s all it takes to change one child’s life FOREVER.

WHY GAMBIA

Gambia is one of the poorest nations in the world and there are roughly 80,000 children in the country are orphaned. Gambia is known throughout the African continent as “The Smiling Coast.” What makes the people who live here so vibrant and radiant is how happy, wise and content they are with the lives they live even with resources vastly smaller than the ones we are privileged to have access to.

When I was in Gambia, I met a little girl in one of these orphanages and she asked me to pull out my phone.  She wanted to see pictures of my Mom. She wanted to know everything about my Mom - from the way she laughs, to what the perfume she wears smells like, to all the little sayings and words of wisdom she’s shared with me throughout my entire life.

At first I was a little hesitant to answer her questions, because I wanted to be sensitive to this girl's situation. I didn’t want to come off as “bragging” about my relationship with my mother when this angelic orphaned child doesn’t have the privilege to have something similar.

She could tell I felt uncomfortable answering and she goes “It’s ok, I am the one asking you the questions so do not feel bad answering. I spend every moment I can imagining what it’s like to have a Mother. I like to ask people about their mothers so I can learn from their examples.”

And then she said “I hope I have the opportunity to grow up and be like your Mother some day.”

I’m convinced God sent Angels down to earth and had them wear the disguise of orphans. They are a reminder to each and every one of us the love we need to share with the rest of humanity.

I hope you join us in doing so.

About Penny Appeal USA:

Penny Appeal USA is a nonprofit development organization working to alleviate poverty through sustainable programs. Our mission is to bring about an equitable world by tackling the root causes of poverty, while bridging the gap between funders and poor communities in order to work together on long-term solutions that can help end intergenerational poverty

Since 2016, we have provided support, tools, and services to over 50,000 children, refugees, displaced communities, and families in need both domestically and internationally.