Ten years ago, in Spain, it was still possible to pay rent without struggling, fill the fridge without heroic effort, and live without inflation dictating every household decision. Times were tough, yes, but the future didn’t seem entirely closed off.
While conversations here revolved around cyclical crises, thousands of kilometres away in a remote village in Gambia, the future was not even on the agenda.
In Jalo Koto, 90 kilometres from Banjul, childhood was spent without desks, disease was an unending curse, and poverty was not a statistic: it was everyday life. There were no schools, no doctors, and no paths to something better—only a daily survival routine.
In that same year, from a sun-drenched shore in El Médano, Tenerife, a group of friends contemplated initiating a transformation in their lives and those of others, perhaps in search of a better world. Ten years later, Solidarios Canarios has brought education, health, and hope to hundreds of children and families in Jalo Koto.
As Solidarios Canarios celebrates its tenth anniversary, it reflects on its journey with the release of a documentary, featuring not the founders, but those who experience the project daily.
Additionally, two very special guests have crossed the continent to share the story in their own words.
DIARIO DE AVISOS sits down with Dembo, a tall, serene young man and the current project coordinator in Jalo Koto, the village where he was born and began this long journey.
Wearing a CD Tenerife t-shirt, the team he supports, he says, “It’s the island that gave me everything.” He clearly recounts the early days of a story that transformed his life and that of his community.
“I was the driver of the truck that brought them here. At that time, we had no school, no doctor, and no one who considered education a priority. Our lives were very difficult.”
Today, in that same village, there is top-quality educational infrastructure with over 330 students, a health post, housing for teachers, and a school cafeteria. Dembo sums it up: “The difference between then and now is enormous. Now children from five nearby villages come here to study. People have become more aware, and health has improved significantly.”
However, his bond with the project goes beyond work: “I named my son Toño, after one of the project members, because we are like brothers. I see them as part of my family.”
Change Begins in the Classrooms
Another key voice in this journey is Fatu, one of the first teachers the school had. She learned about the project through Dembo, who introduced her to the founders.
“I left the public school in my country because Solidarios offered a better salary and a more humane way of working.”
Today, she lives in one of the houses built within the school grounds. There, she eats, sleeps, and teaches.
“Thanks to this project, I have a home, food, and my grandchildren study for free. Our lives have changed completely. Many children couldn’t study before due to a lack of materials. Now everything is free: uniforms, backpacks, pencils… and they also receive meals.” She acknowledges that poverty remains a significant issue in the country.
“Some mothers work as cooks at the school, others as cleaners or supervisors. There are also employment opportunities in the hospital for people from the village.”
The model established in Jalo Koto, Fatu says, has not gone unnoticed by the Gambian administration: “Even the Minister of Education has praised us.”
A Decade Narrated from Within
In celebration of its tenth anniversary, Solidarios Canarios has produced a documentary that captures the entire journey of the Jalo Koto community. Notably, it is narrated not by the volunteers but by the villagers themselves.
“We wanted them to tell their own story. You see them teaching, cooking, working…” states Mendoza.
Following the latest fundraising event, the association raised funds to start building new classrooms to expand educational offerings to secondary school. The next significant step will be the establishment of a vocational training centre where young people can learn trades such as plumbing, carpentry, cooking, IT, or welding. “We want no one to miss out on opportunities and for them to learn a trade that can support their families,” Dembo explains with firsthand knowledge.
