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Information:
The (NSGA) Nova
Scotia-Gambia Association
is an international Canadian charity and a Banjul registered
NGO development organisation that has been actively operating
in The Gambia since 1985. Since its inception it has been
working in various social advancement programmes in education
and health
targeted, at local communities and schools.
Its fundraising income is derived from international
and local institutional sponsors and private individuals. The
NSGA headquarters is in Halifax, Canada, and is registered under
the charity number 137152385.
For over a quarter of a century the NSGA has engaged with
local communities at the grassroots level on healthcare awareness
and educational improvement initiatives covering the North
and South Bank as well as the Western, Central and Upper river
regions of The Gambia. Its volunteers work with the local
community to enhance life health skills, encourage leadership
traits in teenagers, create better health delivery and promote
the idea of their rights and civil duties under nationhood.
The NSGA delivers its community empowerment and awareness
programmes through taking a holistic approach employing the idea of information dissemination via
active engagement of the beneficiaries. It channels its schemes through local
community radio, the GRTS TV, DVDs, the arts of theatre and
acting and via peer education methods in learning institutions.
Over the last 20 odd years, NSGA has provided education
and training workshops and seminars in communities and schools
on malaria
prevention, sanitation and clean water,
good governance, reproductive and sexual health, gender
equality issues, environmental
awareness, HIV/Aids, sexually transmitted diseases among other
civil society projects.
Over the years the NSGA has created avenues for local villagers,
urban professionals, school pupils and young people to
participate in projects overseas and in their own countries.
More than 800 volunteer and employment placements have bee
filled since it began its activities.
Interventions &
Programmes:
• College funding opportunities for higher education.
Under the Heller-Skinn Scholarship Fund, which was established
in 2011, youths are sponsored financially to study at the
University of The
Gambia.
• Country wide peer health
education in communities & over160 schools.
• Environmental sustainability
• General health promotion.
• Highlighting the achievements of Afro-Canadian development efforts &
tackling common misconceptions about Africa.
• HIV/Aids awareness, prevention
The NSGA works with local groups
under the Global Fund HIV project. It uses peer health education
and videos to disseminate HIV/Aids awareness to kids, teenagers
and the adult population. This campaign involves teaching people
how STDs are spread, and how to protect themselves from
infection. It also offers voluntary blood testing and advice.
•
Internships in Gambia
Over the last 25 years the NSGA have made available volunteer
openings and international internships for Canadian citizens who
wish to work in the development field in West Africa.
There are 3 kinds of internships available. The
Self Sponsored Intern / Volunteer Opportunity which lasts for up
to 6 weeks and is available for professionals and university
students. The second is the GHO Summer Internship in conjunction
with the Global Health Office of Dalhousie University which is a
4 week summer placement for its students studying health
promotion, nursing or medicine. The last type, which lasts from
half a year to 9 months, is the International Youth Internship
Program which is available to Canadian graduates between 19 and
30 years old. Note that this placement is sometimes put on hold
due to certain factors.
• Life skills
training in schools.
• Malaria control & prevention.
The NSGA
anti-malaria program aims at promoting awareness of how to most
effectively treatment cases of malaria and prevention. It
promotes, through radio and TV, the adoption of mosquito nets
that have been soaked in insecticide. It also works with partner
groups in Gambia under the Global Fund Malaria Project.
•
Reproductive rights, maternal & sexual health development aimed at youth.
•
School Twinning Programme
This is between schools in the Nova
Scotia province and high and junior schools in The Gambia. The
project is intended to increase the awareness children and
promote the active participation of pupils in humanitarian
efforts and international development. It is also intended to
inculcate the idea of community service among students and
encourage them to take part in local and overseas development
work. Finally, it is intended to enhance cultural appreciation
and understanding between the two countries.
• Water &
sanitation
The charity promotes 4 program areas which are
the (i) use of hygienic water practices, (ii) water conservation
methods, (iii) water borne diseases and good sanitation. Their
water education courses are held in around 25 rural schools and
village communities using local movie theatres and the Peer
Health Education program.
• Youth gender equality and leadership training.
Partners:
Below are just some of the grassroots and national organisations
that NSGA has worked with over the years for the effective
delivery of its social development programmes.
Gambia:-
• ActionAid International
• Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education
• National AIDS Secretariat
• National Malaria Control Program
• United Nations
Canada:-
• Atlantic Council for International Cooperation (ACIC)
• Commonwealth of Learning - Vancouver
• Dalhousie University - Nova Scotia
Organisational
Structure:
• Board of Directors
• Board Members
• Office Staff
• Senior Staff
• Local Management Committee
Donations:
If you want to make a donation to the Nova Scotia - Gambia
Association there are several methods to chose from:-
1) Direct Mail
2) Donate Online
3) Gifts of Listed Securities / Investments
4) Special Occasion & In Memoriam Donations
5) United Way of Canada Centraide
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