My name is Alagie Saidy, a born citizen, of Jambanjelly the Gambia. I serve as the financial advisor and also do projects for the foundation Children´s fund – the Gambia.

My motivation of joining hands with Harriette van Velsum and Ebrima Nyassi came to contact many years ago. When I first heard of the great job that these two were doing in my village – Jambanjelly, actually caught my interest as the same opportunity was what I benefitted from which help mold me to what I am today.

I was born to a low-income family of 8 children. With great sacrifice and hard work from my parents, they went the extra mile working in the rice field during rainy seasons and gardening during the dry seasons to raise money to allow us the opportunity to continue with our formal education. Even with great sacrifice and hard work, could not provide all the needs for better education at the time. This made me relocate from Jambanjelly to a bigger city for better opportunities.

Then, I met Mr. Lourens Van Herk a national of The Netherlands from Den Haag who after seeing the love I have for education and my desire to succeed in life, decided to support me along the line by sponsoring my school bills up to my diploma Programme where I earned diploma level 6 in Human Resources Management (HRM). With the above qualification, I was able to secure some contract jobs which with dedication and perseverance, I keep elevating from low level jobs to higher jobs, along the line, completed my bachelor’s degree in HRM and currently enrolled in the master’s degree in public administration at the University of The Gambia alongside my official role as the HR-manager at an International Organization. I believe this could not have been possible without the support of Mr. Lourens Van Herk.

I stand by the principle of giving good foundation to the most vulnerable in our communities, such as children, women, and poor families which need better lives for them and their families to be responsible and productive members of the society at large.

Thank you so much for the support.

Alagie Saidy