Africa-Press – Gambia. The Taranga Youth Foundation Friday launched its programmes at St Anthony’s church in Kololi aimed at empowering young Gambians through mental health support, skills training and safe spaces for young people to grow.
Founder and CEO Jacob Francis Sarr said the initiative was inspired by his concern for the growing challenges facing the country’s youth. Speaking emotionally, he says he feels a “deep pain” every time he returns home and sees the potential of young Gambians threatened by drugs, stress, hopelessness and the rising dangers of back-way migration.
“I stand here not just as a founder but as a son of this country,” Sarr said. “I feel anger not at the youths, but at the circumstances that failed them. And above all, I feel a responsibility because I know what it means to have people who listen and support you.”
Sarr stresses that Taranga Foundation is “not a charity or a project, but a promise, a promise that every young person deserves safety, dignity and the chance to dream.
According to him, at the heart of the foundation’s new efforts is The Volt, a youth centre designed as a safe space where teenagers can speak openly about their emotions, receive mentorship, learn life skills, explore technology and understand mental health issues. He says the centre will also provide warm meals “because no child can grow on an empty stomach.”
Migration activist Ebrima Drammeh, widely known as Ebrima Migration Situation, gave a sobering account of the dangers of irregular migration. He said many Gambians embarked on the Mediterranean route hoping for a better future, only to face danger, exploitation and suffering.
“We are not welcomed in Europe as economic migrants,” he said. “Right now, three boats that left this weekend are at sea with more than 600 Gambians. No one knows their whereabouts.”
Drammeh disclosed that from November 1st to 25th at least 1,960 Gambians attempted the journey on various boats, with 24 deaths recorded and hundreds of women and children intercepted or returned. “This is not the solution,” he warned. “We can build our own Gambia if we join hands and create opportunities here.”
CEO of DBC Printing Company, Ousman Dembell, encouraged the foundation to continue its work, saying young Gambians need support and alternatives to risky migration.
“If I can make it here, others can too,” he said, urging the government to expand job creation and skills programmes.
The launching ceremony closed with renewed calls for unity, youth empowerment and long-term investment in mental health as key steps towards reducing back-way migration.
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