documentary
Fatoumatta’s Story
A portrait film by Gabo Arora about Fatoumatta, a participant in The Gambia88, screened at Carnegie Hall in April 2026.
Watch on YouTube ↗
West Africa · since 2025
The Gambia88
Student-led music clubs, original songs, and community concerts across six regions of The Gambia.
With 28 after-school music clubs in six regions since 2025, The Gambia88 has reached more than 3,400 students through community events and school concerts, with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and Social Change Factory.
The Gambia88 in numbers
- Clubs
- 28
- Active club participants
- 1,843
- Students reached
- 3,445
- Students trained
- 84
- Executive alumni
- 8
As reported in the 2025 Annual Report.
What the program does
- Programs use music for social inclusion and personal growth.
- Concerts and trainings reached thousands of students in 2025.
- Executive alumni support youth leadership.
Songs about the issues students live with
Clubs write and record original songs about their own communities. Two winning entries in the club song contest take on irregular migration, the journey toward Europe known in The Gambia as the “back way”.
Watch
Music in action
See the program through documentary footage, original songs, and performances.
song
Back Way
A winning entry in The Gambia88 club song contest: students in Bansang write about irregular migration.
Watch on YouTube ↗song
The Journey to Exile (Backway)
A winning entry in The Gambia88 club song contest, by students at Gambia Senior Secondary School.
Watch on YouTube ↗Stories from The Gambia88
Photos
Partners
- Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education Government partner
- Social Change Factory Local partner
- German Federal Foreign Office Funder
Documents
Related programs
Follow The Gambia88
The Gambia88
Help the next club start, and the next song get written
Fund The Gambia88 directly, or talk with us about a partnership.