Costa del Sol NGO Mol Beh Taa sets up nursery school in Gambia

What seemed like a dream just over two years ago has become a reality thanks to a family trip to Gambia by Momodou Njie, Lorena Pérez and some friends from Casares. A nursery school is under construction for over 200 children under seven years of age in the town of Douasu.

"In January 2023, a group of friends returned from Gambia with our hearts overflowing and with the need to do something, to do our bit to improve the reality we were leaving behind. The best tool for transformation and development is education and so we decided to create the NGO Mol Beh Taa, which means 'for everyone' in the Mandinga language, which is the Gambia's majority language, and we focused on the project to build a nursery school," an excited Lorena Pérez told SUR.

They started in October 2023 with the work in a rural environment where there was no infrastructure and no education. "We host events, everything necessary to raise funds to go towards the NGO. It is a project of the people," explained Lorena Pérez. In addition to Casares town hall, to whom they are very grateful, they have the support of La Rinconada town hall.

"In Gambia, primary schools start from age seven and are run by the government. Nursery schools are privately run and there are many local languages but the education system is in English. When they reach primary school, children who have not been to a private nursery or kindergarten are lost," Lorena explained.

The school is called Blas Infante because in 2023 this solidarity project received one of the awards promoted by Casares town hall with this name and "since then we have not stopped receiving support, the awards were the push we needed and thanks to them and the love and help of so many people and institutions, our project in Gambia is already coming to fruition," said Lorena Pérez.

"The idea is to start looking for budgets to see how much it would cost to hire cooks so that the children have at least five days of safe food," she said.

Although the idea of the NGO Mol Beh Taa is to start the school year 2025-2026 at full capacity, some children are already attending summer school. One person has already been hired, the teacher Amie, who has started classes with the children to prepare them for school starting in September. "She is in charge of grouping the children and so far there are already four classes formed," said Lorena.

There is also a caretaker and another person who is in charge of logistics, sending invoices, contact with Spain, finances, etc. "The plan is to hire three more teachers. And we will need to clean the school and people to run the dining room". So in addition to providing education for the children, the NGO's project will also provide work to local residents.

The idea is not only that these children have a safe place and that there is school and education "but also to establish a bridge between Gambia, Casares and Andalucía, an exchange of cultures, a project of education for brotherhood and citizenship, which is lacking in these times", concluded Lorena.