Starfish International's Skills Center:
A Great Example of Development in the Making
In April 2023, Mona Foundation's CEO and three of our supporters travelled to Banjul, The Gambia to visit
Starfish International, a Mona partner since 2019. In its mission to empower Gambian girls and young women, Starfish offers two programs: an advanced after-school mentorship program and a Skills Center, which is the program Mona supports, that aims to empower out-of-school young women, ages 15-25, by helping them find their value and voice, explore their aspirations, and learn a trade a focus on serving humanity. This enables the young women to earn an income, lead a life of their own choosing, and contribute to the upliftment of their families and communities. Highlights from our visit are shared below with several inspiring videos about this dynamic and growing organization.
Mama Kujabi and the Starfish Skills Center
The Director and driving force of the Starfish Skills Center is Mama Kujabi, a strong, independent, and passionate woman. Her story is an inspiring one and another incredible example of a woman who has overcome tremendous obstacles to uplift her self, her family, and her community.
When we first visited Starfish International later that year, the Skills Center had grown to five sewing machines and five students. Mona's initial grant in 2019 provided for scholarships, teacher training, and teacher salaries. Over the next two years, Mona supported the expansion of the Center's infrastructure to accommodate their exponential growth.
Today, the Skills Center has nine rooms,
including an income-generating hairdressing salon, restaurant, and a large hall that can be rented out.
With 13 teacher and 95 students, the Center now offers a 3-year certification program in four skills tracks:
- Sewing & Shoemaking
– This 3-year track has the highest enrollment. Students learn how to tie dye and make their own fabric, cut and tailor dresses, and make shoes.
- Catering - There are currently 12 students (10 girls and 2 boys) in this track which includes training cooking and pastry. These “chefs” catered all the meals served throughout our visit.
- Hairstyling
and Make-up- Braiding is very common among Gambia girls and women and so the students in this track are often very busy.
- Crafts -
Students learn to embroider, crochet, and make tote bags, jewelry, tablecloths, and other crafts.
The program also offers business management classes, including Math and English, to enable the students to start and manage their own businesses. A fifth track on hotel management will be added soon.
The Center sells the dresses, shoes, and crafts made by the students and offers student services for hairstyling and make-up.
Mama Kujabi divides the money received into three parts: 1/3 goes to the students to help cover their portion of their fees (about $5/month) and their transportation costs; 1/3 goes to the Center for purchasing supplies; and 1/3 goes into a savings account so that graduates can be given a sewing machine, oven, or other equipment needed to start their businesses.
The Skills Center graduated is first cohort of 5 students in December 2022.
The photo below shows four of the graduates who helped welcome us on the first day of our visit.
In her commencement speech, Mama Kujabi paid tribute to the graduating students and all supporters, and specifically mentioned the importance of Mona's support during the pandemic.
“If it weren’t for Mona Foundation's support of scholarships for 57 students, we would have had to close the Center during COVID19.”
Mama Kujabi's vision
is for the Skills Center to become
a one-stop events venue for weddings and other special occasions where customers can reserve the large hall with catered food, order their custom dresses and shoes, have their hair and make-up done, and even stay at an onsite hotel. With growing enrollment and development of these income-generating services, Mama Kujabi's goal is for the Skills Center to be financially self-sufficient in the next 10 years (by 2033).
"I cannot tell you how impressed we were to learn through our 5-day stay and through observations and consultations how Mama Kujabi, alone and unaided, as a force of nature, has transformed this Center to a viable social and economic development initiative which is now the focus of the collaboration between Starfish and the Ministry of Higher Education."
- Mahnaz Javid, Mona Foundation CEO
Meeting with the Ministry of Education
During our visit, the Mona team went with Mam Yassin, Starfish International's Executive Director, to meet the the Minister of Higher Education and the Deputy Minister of K-12 Education. Mam Yassin has an ongoing relationship with both Ministers who are very complimentary of Starfish's efforts. The Minister of Higher Education mentioned the Gambia's dire need for skilled workers and was very interested when Mam-Yassin described their Skills Center. They committed to visiting Starfish to learn more about the program and how the government might collaborate to replicate the Center elsewhere. Later, the ministry posted the photo and article below to their Facebook page.
From left to right: Back row, Jana Carlson, Mara Khorram, David (Yassin’s husband), ministry staff. Front row: Dr. Flor Geola, student, Mahnaz Javid, Hon. Professor Pierre Gomez, Mam Yassin, Nyima (Yassin’s sister)
Starfish International, Mona Foundation, pay a courtesy call on the Honorable Minister of Higher Education.
Our Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Hon. Professor Pierre Gomez was pleased to receive representatives from Starfish International and Mona Foundation on Wednesday 19th, at the Ministry’s complex in Bijilo. Fruitful discussions were made on #girlsempowerment through Technical and Vocational Education and Training #TVET in the #gambia. Hon. Gomez commended Starfish International for their valuable work towards youth empowerment by providing them with technical skills to succeed in today’s world. He also gave a run-down of the various activities the Ministry is involved in which includes the decentralization of TVET to every region of the country, and transformations of tertiary and higher education institutions in The Gambia into world-class standards. Furthermore, the Minister encouraged Starfish International to expand their activities in order to impact a wider populace in the country. Finally, Prof Gomez affirmed that his Ministry looks forward to more collaborations with Starfish International and Mona Foundation for the development of #TVET in The Gambia.”
The videos below give a glimpse into the first two days of our visit to the Starfish Skills Center and our visit to the Ministry of Education.
