BEECause people
Africa BEECause (ABC), the UK organisation, has three trustees who maintain continuous contact with The Gambia and visit several times a year. The BCG board is comprised of experienced senior Gambians, together with representatives from the BCG staff and the ABC board of trustees. The BCG board and UK trustees are volunteers.
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BCG has eight permanent staff. Essential field and project support capacity is provided by our 10 BEECause trained self-employed Network members. BCG welcomes volunteers from the US Peace Corps and elsewhere.
Peter Graham-Matheson Chairman, Fund Raising and Operations
Peter spent 30 years in human resources, latterly as general manager HR of a large insurance company. As a junior army officer, he served in Kenya before Independence. In 2005, having retired, he went to Tanzania as a volunteer in a microfinance organisation. This experience ignited an interest in development and he began working in The Gambia in 2007.
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Bill Ormrod Finance and Accounts
Chartered accountant Bill was head of finance for a public utility before he retired. He is also a trustee of another UK charity and voluntary adviser to Allahtentu (an HIV/AIDS self-help group) in The Gambia. He has worked as a volunteer in Central America, the West Indies, Tanzania and The Gambia.
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Lynne Graham-Matheson Administration, Education and Training
Lynne began her career in administration and HR management. With a PhD in education, she was a Principal Research Fellow at a UK university before retirement. Now she writes and is a published author. She has visited various parts of Africa and worked with the education department of the University of the Gambia and has an interest in fostering co-operative programmes.
Gibbeh Bah Jobe, General Manager
Gibbeh joined BEECause Gambia from another development organisation in 2009 as accountant and administration manager. Her role has broadened over the years and in March 2017 she was promoted to General Manager and joined the board of directors. In 2018 she was chosen to chair the African Union-Ibar Apiculture Platform stakeholders group and is a member of the Gambian government-led team working to prepare the AU Programme.
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Gibbeh is supported by a team of permanent staff, with an average length of service of six years, comprising:
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Kebbah (Kbee) Touray, Programme Manager
Kbee is probably the most experienced and certainly one of the most enthusiastic beekeepers and trainers in The Gambia. His work takes him throughout the country. He enjoys practical jokes.
Mbayam Touray, Accountant/ Administrator
A diligent, accurate number cruncher with strong views, Mbayam has strong views and expresses them.
Training officers Momadou Ndure and Binta Jallow are the core of the beekeeping training team. Momadou is the longest serving member of BCG. As far as we are aware, Binta was the first female beekeeping training officer in the country. She is a model for other women to enter beekeeping, a traditionally male preserve.
Murtar Sanyang
Murtar joined the full-time permanent staff last year from the field support Network. Through its market support and development programme, BCG guarantees beekeepers a market for all honey which meets its standards. As MSDP controller, Murtar is responsible for managing the process from buying through to distribution. To date, domestic demand has grown faster than supply.
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Fabakary Jatta
Horticulture training is supported by Fabakary Jatta, a schoolteacher and development worker specialising in BCG’s field of work.
The KK based team is completed by support and security staff.
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Additional field support is carried out by the BEECause Network, a team of 10 self-employed BCG-trained beekeepers located across the country. From time to time, network members join the permanent team to provide additional capacity. The Network holds bi-annual workshops under Kbee, to share ideas and review progress.
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BEECause Gambia became operationally independent on 1 January 2018. The Gambian members of the former Advisory Committee became directors and, with the exception of one ABC trustee (Peter), the non-Gambians were replaced by local members and the number increased to nine including two female. All are experienced, and are volunteers. Six already work full or part-time in development. Four head up and two hold senior positions in development organisations. Three are retired head teachers. (Three heads are better than one!). One director is a senior civil servant and another a senior member of the local staff of the US Peace Corps environment team, a very experienced beekeeper and “all-the-year-round” gardening specialist.