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
Branches:
Nova Scotia-Gambia Association
NSGA Headquarters,
PO Box 6,
17-1574 Argyle Street,
Suite 17,
Halifax, NS B3J 2B3
CA
Tel no: +1 (902) 423-1360
Fax: +1 (902) 429-9004
Email: info@novascotiagambia.ca |
