Cherno Baba Jallow & The Gambian Community in Detroit:
Congratulations to you all. The Gambia and Gambians all over are proud of your
accomplishments. Keep it up.
Abdoulaye
Beran jeng wrote:
> I congratulate all for their achievements with the hope that the day is near
> when sanity will be restored in The gambia ,under an alliance gorvernment
> ,allowing us to return and contribute towards our nations building.
>
> Beran
>
> Students Rake in College Degrees
>
> The Independent (Banjul)
>
> October 5, 2001
> Posted to the web October 8, 2001
>
> Cherno Baba Jallow
> Banjul, the Gambia
>
> For Gambians in Michigan, USA, the year 2001 has marked an unprecedented
> spurt of academic achievements.
>
> During the recent graduation ceremony of Davenport University in Detroit
> City, five Gambians bagged bachelors degrees, occasioning great rejoicings
> within the Gambian community. A month earlier, four other Gambians had
> graduated from Central Michigan University, three with masters and one
> bachelor's. The scorecard is undeniably impressive for the Detroit-based
> Gambians: 11 of them in this year alone have coveted respective college
> degrees; many more Gambians are on the verge of graduating in a year or two.
>
> Of glory and motivation This has given Gambians in Detroit, estimated to
> number close to 200, newfound optimism about the future. "It's a great
> achievement," enthused the Kudang-born Surahata Ceesay, who graduated with
> M.Sc. in health service administration, and now working for the Trinity
> Health Care System. "It's very hard going to school full-time and working,
> too. It's not an easy task, but it's always going to pay off," he added.
>
> Kebba Barrow, a native of Jarra Barrow Kunda, stressed that Gambians should
> not be discouraged in their quest for higher education in the US because of
> the attendant difficulties: "It takes time and commitment; this is very
> important," he asserted. For him, coming to the US was purposely to seek
> higher education. He now holds M.Sc. in computer software engineering. His
> first degree was in health service administration from the University of
> Detroit-Mercy. He said he changed fields because "The Gambia is lacking in
> computer software engineering. The health care sector is over-saturated with
> people."
>
> "It's a record setting," said the Illiassa native Lamin Jammeh. "Gambians in
> Detroit have been graduating since 1998, but never has there been many of
> them graduate at once," he concluded. Lamin, who also holds M.Sc. in
> computer information systems, had hoped to attain his Ph.D. in his father's
> lifetime. Unfortunately, his father Yusupha "Boukka" Jammeh, former Managing
> Director of FACES, died recently, leaving behind a son unrestrained in his
> ambition for higher education.
>
> The sudden death of his mother Kunda Camara in the fatal accident involving
> some UDP officials near Bansang, had to compel Yusupha Kamara to abandon his
> masters program and go to The Gambia to bereave her. But he has since picked
> up from where he had left off. "I have three more classes before I obtain my
> MBA in global management," he revealed. Yusupha opined that Gambians in the
> US badly need family support and encouragement to excel in their academic
> pursuits. "Also," he added, "you have to set your goals and say, 'this is
> what I want to achieve'; it requires hard work and patience."
>
> He expressed the hope that when this story about them is published in The
> Gambia, it would show a positive image of the majority of hardworking
> Gambians in the US in mark contrast to recent negative reports of drug
> smuggling involving some Gambians in North Carolina. For the former Central
> Bank employee Sulayman Jammeh, the large-scale Gambian graduation will
> encourage the few others in Detroit who aren't going to school to do so now.
> "We have set an example for others to follow. Education is the best we can
> achieve in the US," he emphasised.
>
> Sulayman admitted that he wasn't consistent with his undergraduate classes,
> as he had dropped out of college to take some banking courses, which would
> later land him a better job. "It took me longer to graduate than I had
> thought, but at least I got what I wanted," he smiled.
>
> Sulayman, who holds BA in Finance has just landed a new job as an accounting
> analyst with a world travel company. He hopes to enrol this fall for a
> graduate program in either human resources or general management.
>
> The former deputy head girl of Gambia High School, class of 1992, Ramou
> Ceesay, thanked her family and friends for their support and encouragement
> over the years. " I graduated with bachelors in organizational
> administration; in August, I will enrol for my Master's in industrial
> administration," she said happily. Ramou is also happy because her husband
> Jim Gaye, also graduated with an associates degree in computer information
> system and business administration from Wayne County Community College. "He
> will be proceeding to the Walsh College of Business," she glowed over her
> husband's plan for a four-year college entry.
>
> Returning home When is the time to return to The Gambia and contribute to
> national development? Kebba called on all Gambians with higher education to
> "look into the opportunity of returning home someday and contributing to
> national development." With a masters degree in software engineering, and
> also doing consultancy work with IBM, IKON, Kebba thought his knowledge of
> computers would be of great value to Gambian socio-economic development.
>
> But Yusupha argued that a final return to The Gambia and participation in
> national development is "a matter of personal choice." To him, a return to
> The Gambia is contingent upon personal and family conditions. "But it's
> still possible to contribute to national development from afar," he
> remarked.
>
> Sulayman agreed that it's a matter of choice to return or not to return to
> The Gambia, but he stressed that it's a sense of family longing that
> motivates people to return home. "I don't think every Gambian wants to stay
> here forever," he claimed. He also questioned the authenticity of claims of
> certain Gambians that employment is hard to come by in The Gambia.
>
> "People say there are no jobs in The Gambia, but I think with your education
> and experience, you could get any job in The Gambia," he said. "
> Personally," he declared, "I am strongly thinking about returning to The
> Gambia.
>
> I will be very useful in the banking sector."
>
> He agreed that it is good for Gambians to embark on business enterprises in
> the US, but they shouldn't be enriching themselves in this country. "I am
> not in support of personal development at the expense of national
> development," he demurred. Sulayman suggested that Gambians should organize
> themselves in think tanks, study American ways of national development and
> then transplant those ideas in The Gambia. "We could have committees to look
> into ideas of job creation and economic development," he suggested.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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