Actress Olivia Wilde has been a supporter of Power Up Gambia for years now. Here’s a clip of her at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater, where she received an Artivist Award last December. We are so grateful to Olivia for all that she has done for PUG!
Back to School!
It’s that time again! Check out iGive for all of your back to school purchases and a portion of your proceeds will go to Power Up Gambia!
www.iGive.com/PowerUpGambia
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: iGive.com
PUG Founder named “Best of Philly 2010″
Every August, Philadelphia Magazine puts out its “Best of Philly”, a list of all the best this city has to offer, from restaurants to nightlife, from shopping to entertainment, and finally, from the movers to the shakers. What better category for Kathryn Hall to fall under than ‘Movers & Shakers’, having founded Power Up Gambia as a sophomore, setting in motion an organization that would raise $400,000 through volunteer efforts, and powering an entire Gambian hospital with a second installation at a satellite clinic due later this year. If this is what they’re saying about her now, imagine what they’ll be saying down the road, when Power Up Gambia REALLY gets going!
Read it for yourself on page 132 of this month’s Philadelphia Magazine.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Best of Philly, founder, Kathryn Hall, Philadelphia Magazine
On the Ground in The Gambia: Report #2
We received another message from our team, currently performing in-country assessments for future project in The Gambia. Here is their message:
Hi team and PUG fans everywhere,
We’ve had a nice turn of fortune this evening, and Mariama has kindly let us into the computer lab while it’s working to check email. I will have to be brief, since power could go out at any moment with the rain
today, but things have been going incredibly well. We have visited 6 of 8 villages, and have gathered invaluable information. Meeting the alkalos (chief village elder), imams, Village Development Committee leaders, children, elders, and nurses of each village has been eye-opening in a way that is impossible to describe in words. I hope our pictures and reports will do it justice, nonetheless, the memories and impressions we’re taking away will last a lifetime. We will finish our assessments on Tuesday, and will then compile the information and make revisits or phone calls to village leaders as needed to fill in any gaps.
We also made it out to Somita to see the clinic and meet Omar of the Village Development Committee. What a guy. We invited him to meet with Hans of GamSolar, Mr. Badgie, and myself at SJGH to discuss Somita, amongst the many other issues. We’ve talked extensively with Mr. Badgie and Mr. Beyai (Saidu), the Principle Nursing Officer, on his hopes for the future of Gambian healthcare, and where PUG can fit in.
Gia and the community are taking good care of us. Hassan is a wonderful guide/host/interpreter/liason/cultural protector. The girls (Binta, Bintu, Fanta, etc.) come over frequently to eat all of our biscuits (cookies) and play cards. They couldn’t be cuter. They miss you all, and I’ve gathered lots of photos and videos (many taken by the girls themselves) to capture this.
Things are going just swimmingly here.
Having the time of our lives,
Andy, Scott, and Evan
7/25/2010
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Andy, Badgie, Beyai, Evan, GamSolar, Scott, SJGH, Somita, VDC
PUG in PENN Medicine Magazine!
Hey all!
We are all really ecstatic to be featured in PENN Medicine Magazine’s Summer Issue, not to mention being the COVER STORY! We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the editorial staff for making this possibly, and to the undergraduate student chapter at UPenn for taking the initiative to secure the opportunity in the first place.
Well done! We hope you think so too… read the .pdf version here:
PennMedicine-2010-3-Summer-Power-Up-Gambia.pdf
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Media, Press, Student Chapter, University of Pennsylvania
On the Ground in The Gambia: Report #1
We are happy to have received word from our three “PUG Ambassadors”, who left for The Gambia earlier this week to see the solar arrays at work, and to scout future project sites…and it is all the more fitting that we got the message while we in Philadelphia experienced our own torrential downpour, very similar to those of the Gambian rainy season taking place right now! Here’s their message:
I am writing on behalf of Scott, Evan, Hassan, and I to let you know
we have arrived safely in the Gambia and are doing well. Hassan and
the driver picked us up from the airport as promised, and we made our
way to Safari Garden Hotel. The taxi ride was quite unique; lots of rain and
malfunctioned wiper blades. We met the owner of Safari Garden last
evening while taking dinner (as the Gambians say). It was delicious.
Also, we traveled to the nursing school, medical school, and Royal
Victoria Teaching Hospital and saw many interesting things. We met
with the head of the medicine department and learned lots about their
curriculum. We met a few first year medical students and some nursing
students/friends of Hassan. We saw the library and met several other
kind professors. It seems that the biggest defecit in the library is a
lack of Anatomy, Biology, and Embryology texts, as well as current
editions of NEJM and JAMA and other journals which may benefit the
professors and physicians. In terms of expanding the school, the
medical school needs more classroom and lab space. Right now, they
share quarters with the nursing school, and while it is not crowded,
the professors expressed a desire to expand the class sizes. Right now
it’s ~40 per class. We also were able to meet Saidu Bauyu in Banjul
before even heading to Bwiam. We then peered into the ER, then made
our way back to Fajara. We stopped at TimBOOKtu (where a bought a
Mandinka-English phrase book) after we had done our grocery shopping.
We then walked a beach for a while and talked with Hassan. We’re
learning so much to write in one email from an internet cafe. Will
speak more soon, I hope.
All the best from the Gambia,
Andy Scott and Evan
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Andy, Evan, Hassan, Royal Victoria, Safari Garden, Scott
Eager Leaders for Change
Last Friday, I traveled to Yale University and spoke to a group of students attending the “Leaders for Social Change” summer program. This class of 45 students, ranging 14 to 18 years-old and coming from all over the world, has been learning to take the complex issues that face our planet and its people, and then to make a calculated change. It was tremendous to see these eager young people ready to make an impact, whether in their own communities or elsewhere, stateside or abroad. Yes, Kathryn may have founded Power Up Gambia in her early 20s, but these kids are way ahead of the curve! Their enthusiasm and mindfulness were evident, and I — or WE ALL– can only hope those never dwindle.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Student Chapter, Students, Yale
Support while you shop!
Check out the newest way to support PUG. By shopping online at iGive.com, you can connect to over 700 retailers– from Amazon to Expedia, from Staples to Gap– and a portion of your purchase will go to Power Up Gambia.
AND if you make a purchase by July 31st, PUG will receive an extra $5!!
So go to www.iGive.com/PowerUpGambia, and support PUG while you shop online!
Gearing up for summer work
We are looking forward to a busy 2010 summer work season in The Gambia. Four medical student from the University of Pennsylvania -Andy, Evan, Scott and Sesh – will travel to The Gambia in July and August to do energy audits, monitoring, and evaluations at Sulayman Junkung General Hospital and Somita Clinic. Andy, Evan and Scott will also be working with a medical student from the University of The Gambia, Hassan Njie, to evaluate a number of clinics for potential future projects. They will be posting blogs of their travels on a regular basis over the summer, so be sure to check in regularly for updates on their findings.
Welcome to the new Power Up Gambia website!
Welcome to our new website! Sorry we were down for so long, but we are looking forward to adding new and useful information to the site in the next few weeks. Check back often to see our progress.
A tremendous hats off to our web designer Yiyi Zhou who made this possible, and to PUG team member Michael Reiche who has been leading the website project.