The story of Sambou Lamin who grew up in a poor family in the village.

Sambou Lamin's parents, Kekoi and Wontonding, were conservative. They lived with him in their ancestral home in the village. Sambou developed interest in the game of football but his parents especially the mother Wontonding, was vehemently opposed to his involvement in football because for them it was ungodly and potentially dangerous to his physical well-being. So his mother would always curse him, any time he goes to the field to play football. Sambou was enrolled at the primary school in his village and after closing from conventional school he goes to DARA to recite the Holy Quran.

Because of his love for football, Sambou will always pass by the football field; hide his ALLUAL (the locally carved wooden slate for Quaranic education) to play Warga Warga with his peers before getting to DARA. Sometimes, he was late such that his Quranic teacher would send him home without any lessons. So he will return home and fabricate a story in order to escape his father's chain that was always there incase he defaults. But more often than not, his father would not spare him. Sometimes he goes into hiding but that too was no panacea for as early as 6am, his father would enter his room to wake him up with the chain.

After the usual early morning encounter, Sambou will untie "Njol Demba" their horse and ride it to the public well, the only well in their area to bath it. After washing Njol Demba, Sambou takes it home and gives it a portion of sorghum and allows it to exercise. After all that he will tie it again and provide it with some hay before he takes his own bath to go to school. This was Sambou's daily routine, in addition to going to the farm as well as fetching firewood for his mother and Quaranic teacher, every Wednesday and Thursday when he would not be attending DARA as the tradition requires.

Because of these duties, Sambou could hardly find time to join his friends at the football field. He was almost always kept away from social life. At times on his way to the farm, his friends would mock at him and ask him to bring them monkey milk. Sometimes, he gets to the farm very tired and sleepy but he dares not sleep, for his father would not forgive him should the monkeys destroy their crops. Their farm borders the community forest park , which makes it very vulnerable to the monkeys and other animals.

As it is always said, "it is easier to pick up a habit than to drop one" hence, Sambou will always find ways of joining his peers at the football field situated at the primary school beside the main route that adjoined Sambou's area and the main village. Therefore, most of the time when Sambou goes to the field, he would be spotted by a family member and thus get reported home. As usual, his mother would curse him when he returned. "May you break your leg any time you go to play football". Although these were not deep seated, they were effectively threatening.

His mother would hardly beat him but she will always succeed in attracting his father's attention who reacts by chaining Sambou. As a result of the fear instilled in him, Sambou's mind was always unstable and his attention equally divided.  One day, a group of white people from Sweden who were sponsoring Sambou's school visited the school to inspect facilities. As part of the visit, a football match was organized to entertain the guests. Little Sambou was among those who were selected to play that match. Despite his erratic presence at the field; Sambou Lamin's performance was outstanding.

The guests were so impressed that together with four of his friends, Sambou got sponsorship for the rest of his stay at the primary school. Sambou returned home happily to reveal the pleasant news to his mother who struggles every day to pay his fees. She could not believe Sambou's version and so decided to go to the school herself to find out. When Sambou's class teacher Mr. Paul Gomez explained how he got his fortune, Wontonding couldn't hold her tears.

She confessed to Mr. Gomez that she had always cursed Sambou Lamin any time he goes to play football but that thenceforth she would stop cursing him. Later on, Sambou Lamin and his friends; namely Karamba, Bully, Jally Madi and Masanneh were invited to visit Sweden and upon their return he brought home more fortunes for his family. His father Kekoi had stopped beating him and his mother has since changed from cursing him to praying for him.

The story of little Sambou should teach parents and guardians that not only do they have a responsibility to provide their children, the basic need of survival and development but also to look after them and encourage them to explore their potentials to the fullest. Every person has a gift of talent from our creator and when harnessed it could be beneficial to society as a whole. We should therefore do everything possible to support our children. We must not condemn them when they have an inclination for a particular trade unless if that trade is unlawful. We have witnessed recently how a group of young Gambian players, woke up to a million. Remember it could be your own child.