The Yagana World Foundation is an organization that was setup to help needy and underprivileged Gambians. The brainchild of Dutch couple, Benno and Dinemarie Langereis, the foundation commenced operations in 2000.

Talking to the Daily Observer, Dinemarie Langereis, the Chairperson of the foundation, explained that it all started when she and her husband, who had frequented different parts of the globe, first came to The Gambia and fell in love with the Smiling Coast.  Struck by the charm of the people and their determination to make something out of their meagre lot, they decided to do their best to help the less fortunate people in the country. Thus the idea of setting up the foundation was born.

The couple decided to get together with concerned and diligent Gambians, such as the assistant chairperson of the foundation, Lamin Janneh, to actively pursue their dream of helping Gambians.

In nearly 9 years of operation, the association has impacted positively on the lives of many people in the country with projects in different parts of the country such as Banjulinding, Bansang, Makumbaya and so on. Their intervention is multifaceted and includes such areas as health, education, agriculture and music.  

Every year, Yagana World Foundation brings into the country one or two containers. The foundation once even went to the extent of bringing cement into the country at a time when there was a shortage.

Health

The organization has been providing assistance to the Health sector since its nascent stages. According to Lamin Janneh, the foundation’s assistant chairperson, this started and developed during Dr Tamsir Mbowe’s tenure in office as secretary of state for Health and Social Welfare. Working in partnership with hospitals and other organizations in Holland, the foundation has over the years shipped medical equipment worth millions to the country. Last year, the foundation brought in medical equipment worth over D2.3 million including cardiac and security monitors, blood pressure control meters, and ECG equipment.

All the equipment brought into the country by the foundation are not more than 2 years old. This distinguishes them from other supposed philanthropists whose undisclosed aim is to turn The Gambia and the continent at large into a dumping ground through the importation of outdated machinery and materials.

One of the main partners of the foundation is the Kennemer Hospital in Haarlem, which donated the bulk of the materials brought into the country last year. The hospital did not only donate materials but also offered the services of one of medical technicians, Rob Jonker, who flew into the country to install the equipment and train Gambians to use them.

In June 2007, Dr Tamsir Mbowe flew to Holland where he signed an agreement facilitated by the foundation for an exchange program for doctors and medical equipment. Under this groundbreaking agreement, doctors from Holland will come to The Gambia to work in the country and train Gambians. The foundation is also working in collaboration with the Rotary Haarlemmermeer and other partners in Holland to extend the Banjulinding Hospital in early 2009.
According to Assistant Chairperson Janneh, “Showers, toilets, a delivery room and recovery room will be built. The old hospital ward will also be extended.”


Education

One of the main areas of intervention of the foundation is the education sector. They give structural help to schools like the Jalambang Nursery School. The association also sponsors needy students (such as orphans) and is currently helping about 18 students with their education. Says Dinemarie Langereis: “We sponsor children who have no financial means whatsoever and could otherwise never go to school.” The organization also provides furniture, exercise books and other educational materials for schools in the rural areas as part of their intervention in the education sector.


Music and arts

As in many parts of the world, music is part of daily life in The Gambia, especially for the youngsters. Though music had not originally been an area of intervention considered by the founders of the foundation, they had to give this sector serious thought when they were approached to help young musicians who wanted to become “someone in music” but did not have the means to launch their musical careers.

Says Dinemarie; “ We had to think about that for a while; would it have anything to do with aid to the Third World?”

After consultations with experts in the field, they decided to do their best to help this budding sector and to give young artists  a chance to be able to support their families with the income gained from their musical careers. With boundless enthusiasm and help from young Gambians, an existing building was turned into a studio, Yagana World Studio, located in Manjai Kunda. The equipment in the studio was all provided by the foundation.

The proceeds from the studio are shared between the artists and the foundation. The foundation reinvests the income thus realized into new projects or existing projects that need an infusion of funds.

The foundation has also been instrumental in bringing artists to the country to work in partnership with Gambian artists and also sends Gambian artists abroad for training and exposure.


Building Communities

Yagana World Foundation works hand-in-hand with communities to help them develop their economic and human resource potentials.  One such community is in Makumbaya where they not only help the general community with health care, education, and in maintaining their vegetable garden but help individual villagers as well.

The foundation is currently considering the prospect of building a community centre in the village.  One of its major uses will be to serve as a centre to train the women of the village, most of whom are illiterate, to read and write.

According to Dinemarie Langereis, the Alkalo of the village has already given them a plot of land on which to build the centre.

The foundation also helps and works with the Missionaries of Charity. The charity is run by nuns who take care of “approximately 30 babies and toddlers, some of whom are orphans”.

The nuns also run a small ward, where they take care of pregnant women with all kinds of health problems and people living with HIV/AIDS.