A new orphanage is being built for 50 girls (orphans and street children up to the age of 18) who are currently still living and sleeping in the Sheikh Tihami Ibrahim Nyass Clinic, a small medical post. This is not an ideal situation, as it could have consequences for their safety and health. The compound where the clinic and the future orphanage are located is in Kunkujang Keitaya. This is a small village and a very poor area in the west of Gambia.
Fatou Gaye is the nurse / manager / director of the Sheikh Tihami Ibrahim Nyass Clinic. She helps everyone in her community who needs any kind of help for free. She shares her "wealth" with everyone and has over the last couple of years taken in over 50 orphans and street children (all girls) to provide them with a place to sleep, food and education. It is not customary for girls in Gambia to go to school. Unlike boys, the girls have to pay money to attend school. Near the compound is a school for girls up to 18 years. Fatou has made it possible for the girls that she has taken under her care to go to this school.
The big dream that Fatou currently has is to separate the clinic and the orphanage in order to create a safer and healthier environment for her girls. She has already started the construction of a detached house where the girls can sleep in smaller groups, but now € 6000 is still needed to finish and furnish it. Currently all 50 girls are still sleeping together in a dormitory in the clinic. Once the girls can move into the orphanage this space will become available for patients, which again offers expansion opportunities for the clinic.
Fatou helps the community with her clinic and the orphanage on many levels. She offers the girls that she has taken in a home to grow up in and ensures that they receive food and an education that can help them build a safe and independent life. She also creates jobs and housing for women living on the street by giving them a job in the clinic and offering housing at the compound.