After the start of the secondary school (grades 7 to 9), students will soon be trained in agriculture, electrical engineering, woodworking and metalworking in a 2-year course that not only teaches them the basics of handicrafts, but also provides them with business management training that will enable them to independently implement their projects in The Gambia with the help of a business plan after completing their training.
In total, the private initiative of Dorothea and Detlef Steinweg has already spent more than 300,000 € for the development, especially the construction of the school. A small part of the funds was also supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The responsible Federal Minister, Svenja Schulze, personally informed herself about this project and the perspectives of the work on site of the association Education for The Gambia in a video conference. She was impressed by what has already been achieved and what steps are planned for the future.
It was important to the Minister to emphasise that helping people to help themselves, as practised by the association with its school project in one of the poorest countries in the world, must remain an important component of development aid. The BMZ has also signalled further support for this.
An important topic in the personal exchange between Dorothea and Detlef Steinweg and the Federal Minister was also the high hurdles that voluntary associations have to overcome in order to receive support from the BMZ.
Ms Schulze announced that she would take up the experience gained and include the problem in the work of the Federal Ministry, e.g. to simplify approval procedures.
It was also agreed that Ms Schulze would participate in the official opening of the school in November via video link, if her schedule permits.