By Maimuna Sey Jawo
The founder of Positive Action Foundation West Africa (PAFWA), Muhammadou Drammeh, a Canadian of a Gambian descent, is set to launch the Africa Renaissance Project to help train and empower Gambian deportees from Europe and the Americas.
According to him the training centre will comprise a vocational institute for skills training and a model farm that will serve as a farmer field school for training Gambian youths in agriculture, agro-processing and agribusiness to help them become big time entrepreneurs.
He said that the model farm will embark on massive crop production, horticulture, animal husbandry, aquaculture and agro-processing with an eye on exporting.
What motivated him to return to his roots to launch such an ambitious project is because he conscious of the fact that economic underdevelopment and chronic poverty are mainly responsible for the illegal migration of many young Gambians and other Africans to Europe via the Sahara Desert/North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.
However, he lamented that many youths in West Africa who embarked on the perilous journey got stranded in Libya where they were captured and imprisoned, enslaved and brutalized by rogue elements in that country, adding that some of the young people who survived and eventually returned home are now psychological wrecks while some others that succeeded in entering Europe have been deported, making The Gambia and the rest of West Africa to be awash with frustrated, depressed and very angry youths.
“In these circumstances, some turn to criminality or resort to unsociable alternatives like illicit drug consumption and substance abuse or heavy drinking to overcome their depression. Many young people in Gambia and the rest of West Africa resort to the aforementioned alternatives because they wrongly believe that it is not possible for them to achieve success at home and are ignorant of the many opportunities in their countries especially with regard to renewable natural resources and how to tap into them.
Therefore, “We intend to change this mindset. We will make them realize that Africa, including The Gambia is the next frontier for development, help them identify the very many economic opportunities at home especially in the area of agriculture, and train them on how to utilize these opportunities. The end result of the project is that youths will become high income earners, comparable to their compatriots who settled in Europe. When this is achieved, they will no longer see the need to migrate,” he emphasised.
Mr Drammeh also promised to use his wealth of experience as a former social worker in Canada to bring about a positive turnaround in the lives of Gambian youths. He disclosed that PAFWA will set up a rehabilitation clinic offering both outpatient therapy and residential care for drug addicts, alcoholics and returned migrants traumatized by their experiences in Libya and other places while attempting to migrate to Europe.
Drammeh finally appealed to all stakeholders in the anti-illegal migration campaign to support his Foundation in order to ensure the success of this noble initiative.
