A Message of Hope from the Children of Gambia

09.27.2010

Author: Nicole Soucy, Senior Writer

LONGMEADOW, Mass.—Bay Path College presents A Message of Hope from the Children of The Gambia, a documentary on a day-in-the-life of Anna Fye, a young girl attending Sajuka Community School in Barra, The Gambia. The film showing will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. in Mills Theatre, Carr Hall on the Longmeadow Campus, 588 Longmeadow St. in Longmeadow. A discussion and a special message about the Sajuka Community School will follow the film. The event is free and open to the public.

As part of the Sajuka Community Development Project—a partnership between Bay Path College and Sajuka Community School, Bay Path Professor of Communications and English John Jarvis, PhD, along with three students, Nyillan Fye, Kelly MacIntyre and Jessica Toner, spent the first two weeks of this year in The Gambia, West Africa. The goal of their journey was to inspire and give hope to 300 elementary school children in the Sajuka Community School in Barra Village. They will share what it means to be an engaged member of the global community. Those who donate $20 or more to the Project will receive a DVD of the documentary, and the Longmeadow High School Key Club will have Sajuka Adult Literacy and Skills Center merchandise available for purchase. Proceeds will support the entire Sajuka School.

One of only 10 programs recognized as a Top Program by the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) and Higher Education Task Force, the Sajuka Community Development Project hopes to bring self-sustainability to the only school in the village of 8,000. For more information about the event and upcoming programs at Bay Path College, visit www.baypath.edu, www.bit.ly/BayPathFacebook, twitter.com/Bay_Path , or contact Briana Sitler at 413.565.1066, 800.782.7284 ext. 1066, or bsitler@baypath.edu .