We were lucky

  • To be born in Europe.
  • To have grown up in Germany.
  • To have parents who made grammar school and university possible, even though they were not wealthy.
  • That in our private and professional lives the scales always tipped to the positive side in critical situations.
  • Having three great boys who make us proud and happy.

We want to pass on some of this happiness. Not only to our children, but also to strangers, representing the luck and help we have had.

Why did it become a school in Gambia?

We don’t know exactly. But it was probably simply the time just before our 60th birthdays. At the beginning of 2016, we travelled to Gambia with our boys and then explored the Bijagos Islands. Somehow we then fell a little in love with Gambia and its people.

The first thought was a kindergarten or primary school. On the one hand because this is simple and inexpensive, but above all because the little children are simply “cute”.

But then we realised that although there are many kindergartens and primary schools, there are hardly any secondary schools and almost no vocational schools.

So of course: increase the budget significantly and start with a secondary school and then build the vocational school for electricians, locksmiths and others. And of course for carpenters. My grandfather and my father would be proud.

Since we can’t live forever and we can’t demand the same commitment from our children, we have to do everything we can to ensure that the school can stand on its own feet, because the construction is one thing, the long-term operation with high educational standards is another.

When we made our decision, we knew that we would suffer many setbacks, that our cost plan would probably only be a plan and that we would experience many surprises.

Today, six years after our first visit, we are still a long way behind our goal. Things are going slower than expected and Covid 19 is really no help.

We deliberately built all the outbuildings first so that we could approach potential donors with a dream that has already been realised. And so we were able to start the school with the first classes on 3 October 2022.