Reason2Hope is a charitable organization that provides school uniforms and fees to needy children in rural Gambia. Our mission is to create lasting relationships, sustainable change and more opportunity within this small country by assisting a new generation with an empowering education.
November 2009. It seemed like a small thing at the time. A simple but curious FB “Friend Request” and message to Mary Van Kampen from Sulayman Sanyang…” "I have love your landscapes painting. i want to be friend with you. i from the gambia.". That request was accepted and became the beginning of a friendship, mentorship, art collaboration and the charitable organization called Reason2Hope.
Reason2Hope works in the Kiang west district of rural Gambia, in the village of Burong, assisting students at the Burong Lower Basic School because that is where Sulayman Sanyang went to primary school. He was sent there to live with his grandmother for a few years after his father died. Although Sulayman had mixed emotions recalling this time in his life… his love for this village, these people and this school always remained in his heart as did his desire to “give back” one day.
After months of corresponding, Mary and her husband, Dan, traveled to The Gambia, West Africa in March 2011 to meet Sulayman in person. Sulayman showed them around The Gambia, introduced them to his friends, brought them to the village of Burong….and the rest is history. “The need in Burong was clear, the joy and hope on the children’s faces was SO bright. Put that together with Sulay’s desire to give back … and we just knew we were there for a reason.”