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Project Manager Richard with his wife Linda.

Banjul, The Gambia
SVP—Small Village Plan

The main priorities of the Small Village Plan (SVP) and the communities they serve are education, vocational training, and celebration of the communal family. Their goal is to bring development to villages at the grass roots level, progressing to sustainability.

In 1998, SVP members went to West Africa to bring aid to Sierra Leone refugees who had settled in The Gambia. In their time there they have worked closely with teachers and students of the Kerr Serign School, to ensure the scholastic curriculum is upheld and to improve the physical conditions of the school itself. SVP works with GAFNA to assist refugees in the Banjul area, providing educational opportunities and materials to students and their parents, education and vocation seminars, special event performances, and programs that support and promote family values.

SVP is also involved in a pilot project in the village of Sintet (also in The Gambia) where they're helping the residents build a new school, a sports facility, and the furniture needed for both. Additional vocational training—in such areas such as brick making, bee keeping, baking, and banana planting—will help the new Sintet residents become a self-supporting community.

Real Life Story — Anna's Story — Anna’s infection was so bad that it seemed her leg would have to be amputated, not an encouraging prospect in Africa...


Richard and villagers planting banana plants.


Children from Sintet village, always smiling and friendly.


In the village.

Jo in frount of a bread oven.

Richard and villagers planting banana plants.

Food Assistance

During our time here in The Gambia, we have donated tons of food, medical supplies and other needs to assist needy situations.

Recipients of the aid have been the following:

  • Refugee Community Center-This center was recently set up by the UNHCR to meet the needs of the many refugees in The Gambia. It attends to about 5,000 Sierra Leonese refugees from the Greater Banjul Area.
  • Basse Refugee Camp-There are about 10,000 refugees from Sierra Leone in The Gambia. The Basse Refugee camp attends to about 200 refugees, most of whom are amputees and people who were disabled in the war.
  • Lower Nuimi District-This area covers the northwestern part of Gambia and borders Senegal.
  • Western Division-This area is in the south central part of Gambia, bordering the Casamance area of Senegal. The main village that received our donation is Dobong Village, which is near Sintet Village, where we started our pilot project, The Small Village Plan.
  • Medical Research Center and Jammeh for Peace Foundation Free Clinic


Children from Sintet village, always smiling and friendly.

Standing in front of the Sintet Junior Secondary school.
In Sintet with the Al Kalo (chief) and villagers.

In the village.
Project Manager Richard Enarson meeting with the President of the Gambia in his home village.

Medical Donations

The Royal Victoria Hospital is the largest public hospital in The Gambia. Every day, multitudes of sick people fill its halls and waiting rooms. We found that the Pediatric Ward was the most overwhelmed with patients and had the least medical supplies. On top of this, the rainy season was just starting and they were receiving a greater influx of sick children because of many flourishing tropical diseases.

We were appalled to find out that they lacked adequate quantities of even basic supplies like Aspirin and Gauze! Thankfully, we had just received a large donation of those much-needed items and more from two pharmacies. After preparing the necessary paperwork, Veronica and I delivered our first donation of medical supplies to the doctors in charge of the ward. They were very thankful and were oohing and aahing as we were bringing in the boxes of supplies into the storage room.

We are extremely grateful to the two pharmacies that donate these supplies, giving us the opportunity to help the most needy in this way! Part of our vision for this medical aid program is to hold a monthly meeting with the doctors and discuss how things are going and how we can continue to meet the needs of the sick


Richard and Linda Enarson.

Abraham Jo and Lili Enarson with their four daughters.

Comfort to the Bereaved in the Aftermath of Boat Accident

On October 27th of 2002 at around 2 am, one of the worst accidents in Senegambian history occurred. A Senegalese ferry carrying well over 1,000 passengers to the Senegalese capital Dakar, capsized a few miles off the southern coast of The Gambia. Its passengers were of various nationalities: Senegalese, Gambian, French, Swiss, and other nationalities. There was an overwhelming loss of life due to the fact that most of the passengers did not know how to swim and the sea was extremely rough, and many people were trapped inside of the cabins. Reports were later circulated of passengers using their cell phones to call loved ones on the mainland for help. In the end, only seventy people were rescued and approximately three hundred bodies were recovered.
Rescue teams were set up at the port as well as the beach area where bodies were washing up on a daily basis. Many of the rescuers worked day and night without food or protection, to collect the bodies and bury them properly. We teamed up with ALCOWA, The Astu Foundation for Children & Orphans Living With AIDS to go to the beach site and help out, bringing biscuits & nutritional supplement drinks for the rescuers, and distributing masks for protection against diseases from the decaying bodies.

Most needed, we also lent a listening ear. Our main emphasis was to encourage the rescue workers and motivate them to help overcome the circumstances. It was heart-breaking for us to hear the stories told by the rescuers, of mothers and babies washing up on the beach. We did our best to encourage these rescue workers, some of whom were so stressed from the whole ordeal that they could hardly hold the food that we gave them because their bodies were shaking so much! Two English men who live in The Gambia and have diving experience were the ones going into the water & pulling the bodies out one after the other. We stopped & spent some time to talk to them, hear their stories, and commend them for their dedicated work.