Spreading joy in The Gambia
Why we did it
A lot of brands donate a certain percentage of their revenue to a specific major charity and that is beautiful. However, at Bigger Picture Clothing we do not believe that this is the way. Not 100% of the money ends up where it actually should and you as a customer will never be able to see the direct impact of your purchase. We aim to be as transparent as possible and actually show you who is supported in what way by your purchase. In order to kickstart the brand and show this concept to you, we have started a project that is called ‘Spreading joy in the Gambia‘. This project made us rethink life. Just seeing what impact a pair of socks can have from a 1st person perspective made us so determined to make this brand work. Together with you we can establish the new world by spreading joy & inspiring others!
What we did
We started collecting 3 things that were needed for this project. Firstly, we collected empty shoeboxes which we turned into gift boxes. Secondly, we collected school supplies, clothing, toys, sport accessories, care products, etc. in order to fill all the boxes. At last, we started a crowdfunding in order to pay for the transportation costs and to enable us to invest in local causes. Then we established partnerships with two organisations that could help us with our project. ‘Gambia For You’ helped us with the transport of all the filled shoeboxes. Besides, ‘Kans voor Gambia‘ established our contact with the Fankanta school in the Gambia. Eventually, we collected over 165 shoeboxes and lots of other supplies. In the end of February 2021 our CEO Freek travelled to the smiling coast of Africa, in order to make sure that they will end up where they should. Furthermore, we managed to invest on a small scale in a few local causes. As we only had relatively small funds, we could not do much, but we did the following:
- In cooperation with 'Kans voor Gambia', we handed the principal of the school some cash, in order to pay for the salaries of the teachers, as they were not able to pay their teachers the entire year.
- Our CEO lived with a local Gambian family for two weeks and spent a lot of time with Omar Barrow, who also showed him the country. As Omar has recently lost his job because of Covid, we tried to set up a small guiding business for him, so that he can guide tourists whenever they are welcome again in the Gambia. So, if you will ever visit the Gambia, feel free to contact us and we will connect you with Omar, the best guide in the Gambia!
- After living with the family of Ishaka, Omar & Fatou for two weeks, I really felt part of the family and made life-long friends. I decided to give all of our remaining funds (12.000 Dalasi) to the family, so that they will be able to pay for the upcoming 3 years of education for Sambu, Musa, Fams and Fatou Jr.
- We received a drawing from every kid on the school. We delivered them to 'Kans voor Gambia', who are now making them into postcards, which are then sold. All of the money that is raised from the postcards is directly invested in the Fankanta school in the Gambia.
How we did it
We made a folder about this initiative and started spreading it on social media to our friends and family. The amount of response was overwhelming. On top of that, a lot of shoe retailers donated their empty shoeboxes and a few companies donated €100 for the transport costs. After going from door to door for weeks, we raised €1.000 for this project and words can’t describe how it felt to have so many people supporting our project. We gave all of our supporters multiple updates about the progress of our cause. They were all able to follow what we did exactly, how we did it and could even see footage of the impact. In this way we have been able to spread positivity and joy both in the Gambia as in the Netherlands. We always aim to show you, what your impact is and how it has a positive impact, so that is how seriously we take the concept of ‘transparency‘.
Sustainable Development
As I fulfilled this project as a 22 year old part-time student at the time and we did not yet earn a single euro, it was very hard to have an impact on a huge scale. We raised around €1.000 and I personally added another €1.000. With these funds we were able to do the following:
- Pay for teacher salaries and small investment costs for the school, in order to buy chairs, etc.
- Set up a small guiding business for our friend Omar, so if you need a guide in the Gambia, feel free to reach out!
- Give 12.000 Dalasi to the family of Ishaka, Omar & Fatou, so that they can send Sambu, Musa, Fams & Fatou Jr. to school.
- Collect drawings from the school which are now sold as postcards in the Netherlands. All the money that is raised from the postcards is directly invested back in the Fankanta school in the Gambia.
- Give every child on the school a gift box with school supplies, clothing, etc., so that they can experience joy and have high quality school supplies.
One year later... we came back, with help!
We got in touch with Dutch Youtuber Frank van der Slot (a.k.a. Slotta). We raised around €15.000 and invested it in both local sport communities (10%), as well as education (90%). All of our operations have been documented and published in a documentary on his YouTube channel. With over 250.000 subscribers, we were able to reach a lot of people and share our positive movement.
