Changes in the House: We are now called Friends of Basse

Friday, July 6, 2012

News Release

We Are Now Called Friends of Basse

The Basse Association has been renamed Friends of Basse, a communique sent to the membership from President Mamadou Sellou Jallow, confirmed recently. "We," the message reads, "would like to inform you all that we have changed our name from Basse Association, Inc. to Friends of Basse (FB) effective immediately. Henceforth, the new name becomes official and will reflect in our future correspondences and deliberations."

Mr. Jallow informed the members that the name change was unavoidable as it was in compliance with Gambian laws. "By our country's registration laws, no organization shall have the name of a place come before its full acronyms, hence the need to drop (Basse) Association (BA) as we knew it. Regrettably, in as much as we liked the old name, our respect for and compliance with the laws of The Gambia, trumped it all." He revealed that after several substitutes were examined, the executive settled for the current name.

Apart from the name change, the adminstrative structures of the organization still remain the same. Mr. Jallow, however, indicated that some changes as in a new mailing list, a new logo (see the work in progress above this page) and additional communicative tools to enable members in The Gambia to take part in meetings, were being worked on.

Mr. Jallow apologized to the membership "for not bringing them up to speed on this matter." He, however, thanked them for the support over the years. He promised that the executive would try to promptly inform the membership on any undertakings in the future "in the hopes of both soliciting and implementing your inputs."

Friends of Basse was founded in 2009 in Koln, Germany. It draws its membership from every part of the globe. The finances of the organization mainly come from annual member contributions and donations. In the three years of its existence, some of Friends of Basse's undertakings in Basse have ranged from donating medical supplies to sponsoring needy students and to contributing towards the rebuilding of the town's main mosque.

Some of the long-term goals of the organization include building a modern public library in Basse.

Written by: My Basse Staff

Below: the communique as received by the general membership.

By My Basse Staff