Starfish International,

The Gambia

About Starfish International

Mona Partner Since 2019

Founded in 2008, Starfish International’s mission provides advanced mentorship program to help young adolescent girls find their voices, work with young boys as their partners, and grow up to make a difference in their communities by identifying problems that surround them and doing what they can to solve those problems.

Starfish Business Skills Center, the program Mona supports, provides certification on four tracks to young girls to enable them to find their financial voice and intendance to equally contribute to the betterment of themselves, their families and communities. This program is now the focus of collaboration with the country's Ministry of Higher Education.

The Challenge

According to the United Nations Development Programme, The Gambia ranks 174th in poverty out of 187 countries worldwide with 60% of the population earning less than $1.90/day. 70% of Gambians are farmers and face hunger during the rainy season. The population is also young with 60% under the age of 25. Only 55% of the people are literate (lower for women).

The Solution: Starfish International Programs

Starfish Skills Center

Serving 100 young women ages 15–25, the Skills Center offers a 3-year certification program in four tracks (Sewing & shoemaking, hairstyling & make-up, catering, and crafts) to enable them to earn an income, lead a life of their own choosing, and contribute to the upliftment of their families and communities.

The Center was founded by 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.a determined woman of her own making who, despite facing seemingly unsurmountable challenges all through her early life. Divorced, alone, and against all odds she raised three daughters by starting a small tailoring business to ensure they received the best possible education. One daughter is now a physician in The Gambia, another is in a Master's program in the US, and the third is finishing secondary school.

STARFISH PLEDGE

I am not the product of my circumstances. I am the composite of all the things that I believe and all the places I believe I can go. My past does not define me. I can step out of my history and create a new day for myself. Even if the entire culture is saying you can not. Even if every single possible bad thing that an happen to me does, I can keep going forward.

Advanced Mentoring Program

This program serves about 230 girls from neighboring public schools and supports their growth and development as individuals worthy of respect, dignity and agency through working with volunteer “mentors” who are all previous participants in the program. Each student commits to 7 hours of engagement per week focused on their areas of interest while developing capacities to contribute to the well-being of their own communities by holding literacy or health education classes. To date, Starfish has supported the education and empowerment of 1,000 students.

How we help

Mona Foundation has partnered with Starfish International since 2019. We primarily support the development of Starfish Skills Center, an integral part of the Starfish International organization.

The Skills Center is working to be financially self-sufficient by 2033. Through 2021 and 2022, with support from Mona Foundation, the Center expanded its infrastructure to nine rooms, including an income generating hairdressing salon, restaurant, and a large hall that can be rented out for special events.

2024 Achievements

200 girls and women trained in tailoring, hairdressing, arts and crafts, and hotel management
22 teachers trained
50 students completed internships

2025 Plans - $71,000

Provide 100 scholarships

Construct 6 AirBnBs designed to mirror the standards of real-world accommodations, providing students in the Hospitality and Housekeeping track with practical, hands-on experience and income generation for Starfish

Support Starfish's 2025 Plans

Updates

Anna's Story

Unable to pursue formal education, Anna’s life transformed through skills training at the Starfish International Skill Center. In three years, she mastered tailoring, launched a business, and now supports her family financially. With graduation ahead, Anna dreams of empowering women by starting a workshop to train aspiring designers, crediting her success to her teachers and Mona Foundation's support.

"The Starfish Skill Center has given me more than just a trade... it has given me the confidence to believe in myself, the tools to support my family, and the hope to dream bigger than I ever thought possible." - Anna

Read the Full Story Here

In January 2023, the Skills Center celebrated its first cadre of 5 graduates. The graduates are now being supported to establish their own businesses to become financially independent and to realize their highest aspirations while contributing to the betterment of their communities.

In her commencement speech, Mama Kujabi paid tribute to the graduating students and all supporters, and specifically mentioned that “if it weren’t for Mona Foundation's support of scholarships for 57 students, we would have had to close the Center during COVID19.”

Watch video

Madeline Isatou Mendy (Mama Kujabi) is the Founder and Director of the Starfish Skills Center. Divorced and a mother of three girls, Madeline always dreamed of founding a Skills Center for young girls to enable them to elevate themselves from oppression and social or familial inequities. Lovingly known by all as "Mama Kujabi", she supported herself and her three daughters by starting her own small business -- but she didn’t stop there.

Her strength of vision and fortitude in the face of adversity is now having a real impact for the girls in her community. Because of Mama Kujabi’s resilience and ingenuity, hundreds of girls and youth do not have to experience the hardships that she did.

As of 2023, one of her daughters is a physician in The Gambia, another is in a Master's program in the US, and the third is finishing secondary school.

Watch Video

Perseverance

StarFish International provided the following update in an email to Mona Foundation on May 13, 2020.

“As the Coronavirus has imposed a lockdown situation in many countries, Starfish International had released its students and staff to stay home two days before the government of The Gambia announced the ‘stay home’ regulation on the 18th of March, 2020. Since then, both staff and students have been working from home and participating in activities through virtual online sessions. As far as the Skill Center is concerned, some of the operations launched by the center to join in the fight against COVID-19 and to lessen the consequences of the pandemic on both the Skills Center students and staff include soap making, mask making and continuing to pay the staff...

One of the Skill Center's most significant achievements was purchasing two sewing machines for the sewing classes. These machines helped with the production of masks in these critical times and made the job much easier for the organization."

“We would like to recognize and sincerely thank the Mona Foundation for the immense role they have played in the sustenance and development of the Skills Center.”