By Yankuba Mamburay

The formal inauguration of the Saint Augustine’s High School Alumni and that of the Gough Foundation that took place on Friday, August 14, 2009, started with a real demonstration of the peaceful coexistence our two religions - Islam and Christianity. Father Gough, just as he proved to be a good bridge between Muslims and Christians by being the first to introduce Islamic Studies and hiring two Islamic teachers at St. Augustine’s High School, came to the Friday Muslim congregation prayers at Masjid Taqwa in Greenbrier, Atlanta, Georgia. For him attending the Muslim prayer is an indication of Catholic Church’s respect for Islam and a validation of the peaceful co-existence of the two religions, especially in The Gambia. Fr. Gough was welcomed to be in attendance as the Imam of The Gambian community in Atlanta and the head Imam of the said mosque, Imam Bye- Ibrahim Secka, was his student, an alumnus of SAHS.

To further demonstrate his respect for the Islamic religion, father has donated some money to the Masjid. He reminisced over Imam Bye Secka’s athletic abilities when he competed against Bye Malleh Wadda in high jump. On his part Imam Bye, with tears visibly rolling down his cheeks, said Father Joseph Anthony Gough is like a father figure to him and a great man that he is ever grateful to from the bottom of his heart.

“Father, thank you very much for your service. You are welcome and you will always be welcomed into our midst. We pray for the Lord to bless you. When the name Father Gough is mentioned I get very emotional.” Imam Bye noted, with emotional and shaky voice. The gathering was one of a type and that which the entire Gambian nation should be proud of, for it shows the entire world a lesson that we can practice our various religions harmoniously, in a way that God Himself has told us in the Qur’an – “there is no compulsion in religion.” The mosque was packed to full capacity to an extent that so many had to pray outside.

The Official Launching of the Alumni and the Gough Foundation.
The actual launching program took place at the Hilton Garden Hotel in Atlanta. The panel of speakers were Father Joseph Anthony Gough, Mr. Sunni A. Joiner, Mr. Bye Malleh Wadda, Mr. Lamin Faati, Mr. Yankuba Mamburay, and Mr. Albert Valentine.

The event was opened with prayers by Imam Bye Ibrahim Secka and Father Joseph A. Gough. This was followed by remarks by the emcee of the program, Mr. Sunni Joiner. In his remark, Mr. Joiner, known to be the best Gambian basketball player, ever, and the first Gambian to play college basketball in the US, asserted that the cause to bring together ex-students, current students, teachers and the Gough Foundation is quite a noble one that needs to be pursued with all efforts. “All of us are beneficiaries of this great school and it is a moral obligation for us to see to it that this school never loses the limelight that it is known for.” Mr. Joined said. Mr. Joiner is an ex-student and a former teacher of the institution.

The next speaker of the occasion was Mr. Yankuba Mamburay, also a former student and teacher at Saint Augustine’s High School. He praised Father Gough for the foundation that he established at SAHS. “Up to date, whatever I do, especially in my education career, is heavily influenced by the education foundation that has been built in me by the education system established by Father Gough at the school. I came to SAHS in 1984, a year after Gough left and because of that someone once told me: ‘Oh you guys have missed the glorious days of Father Gough at Saints.’ I vehemently reject that assertion,” Mr. Mamburay said. “How could I have missed those glorious days if the teaching materials, the facilities, be it the library, the tennis courts, the basketball courts, football field, and even the teaching staff, were all built, nurtured and enhanced by Father Gough? At Saints we were taught to ‘win our way’ at book or play, as our famous school song says,” Mr. Mamburay noted. He presented his book, “The Search for a Lost Brother,” to Father Gough as a token of appreciation for the service he rendered to SAHS and the entire Gambian nation.

On his part Mr. Albert Valentine posited that he was a badge of 1977, one reason why he was flabbergasted by the school song that we sang at the occasion – he did not know about the song because when he was there Saints had no school song. He said he went to SAHS in 1972 and graduated in 1977. “I express my sincere gratitude to Father Gough and SAHS for helping us become men.” He concurred with Mr. Joiner that we have a moral obligation to see to it that both the Alumni and the Gough Foundation are successful.

The next speaker at the occasion was Mr. Bye Malleh Wadda, a renowned Gambian Sportsman. He came from The Gambia to attend the occasion in his capacity as the coordinator of the Gough Foundation. Mr. Wadda discussed the various development projects the Gough Foundation has embarked on since when it was established some three years ago. He expressed the fact that “due to Father’s accomplishments in our country, he was awarded a Gambian Citizenship, the title ORG, and Goodwill Ambassador (Ambassador-at-Large) by President Yahya AJJ Jammeh.” Mr. Malleh Wadda went further to give a very long list of Father’s accomplishments both at SAHS and in the country as a whole. “The Father Gough Foundation has been involved in awarding scholarships, donating school materials, books, computers, etc. The foundation also is involved in building the first privately sponsored sports complex in the Gambia. We have a board of trustees in the Gambia and we would like to have one here in the US and another in Europe.” Mr. Wadda added. He said the Gough Foundation is currently building a basketball court to be named Sunni Joiner Basketball Arena, to which the audience applauded exuberantly. On a final note, he stressed the need to have collective assistance and appealed to all ex-students of SAHS from across the globe to come together and assist our school and the foundation.

On his part, the Gambian Consul based in New York, Mr. Lamin Faati, also an alumnus of SAHS, informed the gathering about the importance of assisting the efforts of both the Alumni and the Gough Foundation. He said during his time the major point of “attraction for most of us to apply to go to SAHS was Father Gough. Just the mention of his name was synonymous to the name of the school. He has done a lot and because of his charisma he has been appointed by the president as the Goodwill Ambassador of the Gambia.” Mr. Faati came from New York to attend the occasion.

When it came to his turn, Father Gough said “even though I have been away from the Gambia for over 25 years, there has never been a time that I did not have the country in mind. I love the Gambia,” He said. He went further to express his gratitude to Gambians for according him a very wonderful stay and allowing him to contribute his quarters to the country’s development efforts. He specifically thanked individuals such as Mr. Ousman Manjang, for not only contributing a lot to SAHS but also for coordinating this wonderful launching of the Alumni. He also thanked several ex-students by name, some of whom were not even in the audience. On the consignment of medical equipment and supplies valued at up to $150, 000.00, which was obtained through an NGO, known as Med Share, by the Gambia Christians Association, the Gough foundation has already contributed $1,000.00 towards the shipping, handling and other expenses of $22,000.00. He also noted that Northside Hospital has also contributed enormously towards the efforts to getting these medical equipments. Father further pledged to contribute another $5,000.00 if the Gambia Christian Association comes up with $5,000.00.

Award Ceremony
An award ceremony was also held during the program at the Hilton Garden Hotel. As a gesture of recognition of their contribution to SAHS and the Alumni, awards were given by the Gough Foundation and the Saints Alumni to the following individuals: Father Gough, The Gambian Embassy, The Gambian Permanent Mission, Imam Bye Ibrahim Secka, Bye Malleh Wadda, Ousman Manjang, Tijan Masanneh Ceesay, Sunni Joiner, Yankuba Mamburay, Paul Sarr, Dr. James Artley, and Michael Nicol.

The vote of thanks was given by Mr. Tijan Masanneh Ceesay. He reminded the audience of the efforts that he and Father Gough put together to getting the best athletic teams for SAHS. He acknowledged that “all I know today have been taught to me by this man, Father Gough. This man made me a man.” Mr. Ceesay gave a very long and emotional narrative of the things he and Fr. Gough planned together, sometimes deep at night when everybody was asleep.

Other speakers who were all ex-students of SAHS included Mr. Ousman Manjang and Dr. Conteh. Dr. Conteh, who proudly noted that he was the first one from Faraba Banta to come to SAHS, also donated several accounting books to the Gough Foundation. Ousman Manjang who was the “detention officer” at Saints during his time also held several positions in the student bodies, including that of the President of the Young Farmers Club. The event was concluded by the audience who came together, armed locked together, to sing the famous SAHS song, hoping that we shall ‘march shoulder to shoulder’ and let ‘our motto Recta Sapere be our guiding light.’ The attendees came from different parts of the United States to witness the program.

Saturday, August 15, 2009On Saturday August 15th, 2009 Fr. Gough received the Gambia National Christian Council’s lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his great contribution to Gambian education and sports. He was also concelebrant at the Mass commemorating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, an annual celebration for Christians in Diaspora. In addition to his already busy schedule, Fr. Gough is expected to visit the headquarters of Med Share International, an Atlanta International Organization that assists third world countries with state-of- the-art medical equipments. His visit is to support, as Gambian Ambassador-at-large, an approved request made for a consignment of medical equipments for The Gambia that was made possible through the President of The Gambia National Christian Council in the United States, Mr. Sunni Alade Joiner and his organization.

Note: If anybody wants to register in the Alumni or need any further information please contact Mr. Ousman Manjang, the coordinator of the Saints Alumni at ousu211@hotmail.com, or Mr. Yankuba Mamburay at yanksmams@hotmail.com. All ex-pupils are encouraged to register. The Gough Foundation can be viewed on www.goughfoundation.gm