Twenty pupils of the Kitty Girls Tutoring Programme (KGTP), Thursday afternoon visited the Observer Company along Gacem Road in Kanifing. The visit was meant to boost the confidence of the students who want to take up journalism as a profession, as well as to get first hand information on how a newspaper house operates.

Speaking to this reporter shortly after a conducted tour of the Observer offices, Veronic Mendy-Gowin, programme coordinator of KGTP, revealed that she worked for the Observer Company from 2007 - 2010 as web mistress and marketing officer. She explained that there are 20 girls involved in the Programme, age 7-16. She added that six of these are Arabic students.

According to her, she used to hear the neighbourhood girls playing loudly and sometimes when they come over to her house, she would give them books to read, and also help them with spelling and solving maths. “More and more girls started coming for help with their schoolwork, and their parents also supported the good initiative. “I take them on excursion, so they will get exposed to important things in our nation. Some months ago, we went to the reptile farm in Kartung, the students learned a lot. We intend to visit many more places like the National Museum, Banjul seaport, Juffureh Island and others,” she added.

She also said that she encouraged the girls to do their homework, to keep trying and to work harder for more improvement. “I know that I am having an impact, because the students’ grades have improved a lot. I also believe that among my students we will have government ministers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and even journalists. My goal is to see that the girls finish school, go on to higher education and work to develop their nation,” she enthused.

Mendy-Gowin disclosed that she and her husband use their personal funds to run the Programme. She further disclosed that they are building a multipurpose facility called ‘pavilion’, where the students would start meeting for classes. “The pavilion would provide a good environment for learning and the building should be finished very soon,” she added.