Friends of Si-Kunda

Banking......

2012-01-04T09:51:00.001-08:00

This is for all of our regular sponsors - just so that you are aware …. We have had problems with our bank, they have decided (without telling us) to close business to all trustee accounts. It was not until after many phone calls and visits to the bank that we found out why we were having problems with online banking and new investors donations. Fortunately, we believe we have not lost any donations and we have been assured that is the case, but we do need to open another account to take over all our accounts. This means of course we will be sending out forms with the new account details which will need signing to enable this to happen. Meanwhile we have it confirmed that the old account will remain open until all transactions can be transferred. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and hope you will understand and return to us the signed forms in the stamped addressed envelopes that we will send to you in due course There are many other charitable accounts that must be having the same issues, and we just hope that we can get this sorted as quickly and seamlessly as possible. We have been told that we are getting some compensation for all the hassle it has caused us, so for that at least we are pleased.

Please be assured that all our monthly donations are being recieved with no problems.

Sue

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!

2011-12-26T01:34:00.000-08:00

We returned from Gambia mid- December, and have since been busy with Xmas preparations! We had a good trip, and have quite a few updates to share which will be very soon. Our BonusBall game will be renewed in January, though we are going to give it a break of a couple of weeks to get us over the Christmas and New Year period, Marje will be contacting all of you who take part soon. Anyone else interested please send her an email - mjones@friendsofsikunda.org. Its a bit of fun, gives you the opportunity to win a cash prize each week and at the same time supports this charity.

Thankyou all of you who support us in so many ways, we appreciate it very much.

We wish you a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

From Sue and all trustees of Friends of Si-Kunda.

Si-Kunda Visit!

2011-11-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

Not long to go now, Marje and I are off to The Gambia the end of next week! So we are busy preparing for all that needs to be done so that when we are there we know exactly who we need to see, what we need to do, etc etc. Although plans inevitably change to a certain extent at least we will feel we are more or less organised by the time we get there! I will post a report on the blog when we get back mid-December, and the next newsletter will be produced sometime in January.

Gifts to Share.....

2011-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

These are Gift Donations with three designs to choose from!

Very often it is difficult to find that unusual gift, so perhaps we have found the answer for you!

No.1

No.2

No. 3

All you need to do is :

a) Chooseyour card from one of the designs shown

b) Choosewhere your donation gift is to go from the descriptions below

c) Statethe amount you wish to give as a donation gift to your friend or relative forChristmas

d) Sendall these details plus a cheque for the amount to us, Friends of Si-Kunda, 3 Moorlands Road, Wing, Nr. Leighton Buzzard, Beds,LU70RD

The description will be in thecard, and will show the amount gifted. You will then receive this Gift card with free P&P for you to then pass on as a Christmas Gift.

Donation Descriptions

1.To help with the shipment costs of sending vitalsupplies to the schools and hospital we support in Lower River Division, The Gambia, West Africa.

2.This gift will help to supply new windows inthree classrooms at Toniataba School, making theclassrooms much lighter and also providing the ventilation needed to make theseclassrooms so much more comfortable in the hot and humid weather.

3. This giftwill provide a sack of rice to supplement the rice supply for Si-Kunda NurserySchool, where there are 80 children relying on the school daily for theirlunch! - (this gift is £10 for a sack)

4. Thisgift will provide 4 exercise books for every pound, and will be given tochildren attending local schools in the Si-Kunda region.

An example of what you might expect inside the card -

If you wish to purchase one of these Gift Share cards, please make cheques payable

to 'Friends of Si-Kunda Charity'

Many thanks

Christmas Cards for Sale!

2011-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

We now have four designs of Christmas Cards to choose from. All proceeds will help to pay for the new roof on the Busumbala compound -

No.1. The Robin - from original painting by Marje Jones

No.2. Walk to Church - from original painting by Marje Jones

No.3. A Winter Scene - from original painting by Doreen Wright

No.4. Yfelin, North Wales - photographed by Richard Colville

Insideeach card has the wording –

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

No 1. The Robin

No2. Walk to Church

No.3 A Winter Scene

These cards are £3.50 for 5,
or £6.50 for 10, including postage

No.4 Yfelin

If you wish to order a selection,
please send your request
plus payment to -

Friends of Si-Kunda Charity

3 Moorlands Road,

Wing, Nr. Leighton Buzzard,

Beds, LU7 0RD

All cheques payable to "Friends of Si-Kunda Charity"

We will endeavour to send by return within a few days

Gift House

2011-10-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Just to say we are a little behind with getting this "Gift House" up and running, my apologies for that. It is just taking longer than we thought to organise. However, we will soon (hopefully) be advertising Christmas and Gift cards on the website and then concentrate on getting the Gift House up and running as soon as we can. Meanwhile if any of you would like information about our Christmas and gift cards please let me know. sjones@friendsofsikunda.org

Enrolments, updates, etc.,

2011-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have just enroled four more of our students at the GTTI, The Gambian Technical Training Institute - Sainy, Sanna, Lamin B Jammeh and Yankuba. They will be joining Seedy Dembo Jammeh who is about to start his second year of training as an electrician. We wish them all congratulations on being being accepted at the GTTI, and look forward to seeing them again on our next visit at the end of November.

Fatou has done exceptionally well in her exams and is now in Grade 12, she has ambitions to be a journalist. She is a very determined young lady and works hard, we wish her well.

We now have our next two trips to The Gambia booked, 28th Nov - 12th Dec 2011, and also 2nd Feb - 24th Feb 2012.

There is a lot of work done by Sankung in making sure all our students (we have 34 currently) are enroled in their appropriate schools and grades, uniforms made, text books purchased, any transport arrangements made, school fees paid, etc etc. But once they are all settled in their new school year, then plans are going to be made to have a roof put on the compound we have built in Busumbala this Autumn. We look forward to getting this progressed with the hope of Sankung and family being able to move in next Spring, along with any students needing accomodation.

New school uniforms are being made for the Si-Kunda Nursery School children, and I am pleased to say that three of the ladies who have had training at the Skills Centre are helping to make them.

Bonus Ball Game no.5!

2011-09-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

This week we have just started our fifth game of the Bonus Ball, and our first winner this time is Eileen Stone, congratulations Eileen!!

This is proving to be a successful and enjoyable way of raising funds for our charity's projects and at the same time a new winner each week receives a cheque for £25.00

Long may it continue!!

Most of you have been with us since the very first game.

Many thanks to all of you who take part!

Olwen

2011-08-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Sadly our lovely mum-in-law Olwen has passed away. She has always been so supportive of us and this charity, and also sponsored one of our students, Ousmann. We shall ensure that he completes his education in her memory as that is what she would have wished. Also, the bonus ball number winner this week is No.42 which is her number. So we will leave her winnings in the charity to go towards the Si-Kunda Nursery School fund.

Sue and Marje.

Newsletter no.16.

2011-07-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Our Newsletter no. 16 has just been issued, so those of you on our mailing list should receive one any day now.

If anyone else would like a copy, or you believe you should have received one and haven't, please email me - sjonesfriendsofsikunda.org or telephone 01296 688039.

We will be pleased to send one on to you!

It includes amongst other news, reports on Si-Kunda Nursery School, Toniataba School and the Si-Kunda Community Centre & Workshop.

Sue

BonusBall update

2011-05-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

We have just started our 4th version of the BonusBall....having given out over £1,000 in prize money so far, it is working very well whilst also raising funds for our projects.

If anyone else would like to join in, please send an email to mjones@friendsofsikunda.org for details!

Bee Keeping

2011-04-27T00:56:00.000-07:00

BeeCause Charity have provided Beekeeping training for some of our people from Si-Kunda. They all enjoyed it very much and are now very keen to put into practice all they have learned. They have 'catcher' boxes in the village now and at least one box has bees already in it! We met Jenny, Mick and Peter from BeeCause while in Gambia in March, they are so enthusiastic and willing to help get an enterprise going in Si-Kunda, which is great news for us. This is something we have wanted to do for some time now, so at last it looks like it is now happening! So we are very grateful to all of them at BeeCause for providing so much help and encouragement. I will give updates on the blog as this progresses.
In the picture are both Ansumana's who will be the first beekeepers, along with Sankung and Abdoulie who attended the training.

April updates

2011-04-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

Well after a wonderful month in The Gambia the updates are now on our 'Projects' page for 2011.

We have had a very good few weeks since our return as we have had presentations to do which include The Red Cross at Irchester who support us so well. We have received some very generous donations, one of which from the Rotary Club of Bletchley who have supported us for many years now, we had a very enjoyable lunch and gave a presentation which was received well.

We had a very successful sale at BarclayCard in Northampton organised by Dave; which Marje, Anne and I also attended. It was extremely well supported and a very enjoyable day for us.

The BonusBall is continuing to run which also helps a lot with raising funds for our projects.

BeeKeeping training is starting today, we have two men from the village attending in a small town called Lamin, and they will bring their skills back to the village to start a new enterprise. So this is great news!

We installed windows into one classroom last week in Toniataba school to increase the ventilation and provide enough light. We intend to do two further classrooms very soon.

Marje is going to have a garden fete on 21st May if any of you live near enough to Rushden, Northants to attend, you wil be very welcome, please put the date in your diary!

We want to update some more of the website and provide some video clips, plus further fundraising ideas, so we will be busy in the coming months with all of that and more presentations and sales to do.

More updates soon, many thanks for all your support .............Sue

Web updates

2011-03-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

New updates for 2011 are going onto the projects page of the website this week with photographs...
The month in Gambia was very enjoyable and productive. The time went by so quickly I would loved to have stayed another month! We will be visiting again later in the year, and I will put some more updates on this blog in a few days

February - March trip

2011-03-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

I have just got back from a month in The Gambia, and will be writing some updates in the next few days, so watch this space!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!

Special thanks to all of you who have been so supportive during 2010. We are in difficult times, and so we appreciate even more the support we continue to receive, many many thanks from all of us the trustees, and from the people of Si-Kunda.

Marje and Liz had a productive and enjoyable visit to The Gambia in November, all our news will be in the next newsletter, which will be distributed at the end of January. If you don't already receive one regularly and would like to do so, then please contact me - details on the contacts page of the website.

We are visiting Si-Kunda again in February, I will be spending a month there, Anne will be visiting for some of that time, as will my husband.

Trip to Gambia

2010-11-18T03:08:00.001-08:00

Marje and Liz are now almost packed and ready to go to The Gambia tomorrow, Friday November 19th 2010. They are going for ten days, and have a very long list of things to do while there...! First on the agenda is to help Sankung at the port of Banjul retrieving the latest shipment, getting it through customs and then upcountry. It should have arrived a few weeks ago but unfortunately the container ship had to call into Antwerpp for repairs. Which has meant that Sankung has been unable to distribute the supplies as yet, but it should all get to the village during the next few days, and can then be taken to the various schools and hospital as intended.

Skills Centre

2010-11-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Skills Centre is currently having a tiled floor laid, this will be a big improvement to the concrete floor, and will help to make it easier to keep clean.

The excercise books have been purchased and delivered to both Toniataba and Fonkoi Kunda schools.

The shipment is due in Banjul,the capital and port of The Gambia. This will be delivered over the next week to the schools we support,Soma Hospital and Soma Red Cross.

BonusBalls!

2010-09-28T00:19:00.001-07:00

Our BonusBall starts again tomorrow, Wednesday 29th, for 16 weeks. Each week's winner will be notified and the results will also be reported on the website. Good luck to everyone who has participated, and thankyou for supporting us!

Sue

Donations

2010-09-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

On the opening page of the website we now have the facility on the website to donate online! It is easy, quick and safe, no matter how small a donation it really does help to make a difference.

You will notice that we have given the website a bit of a facelift, we are looking at updating some of the other pages as well.

Sue

Yaya and Lamin

2010-09-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

Little Yaya, and Lamin her younger brother are both in hospital at the moment after being in an accident. The building they were in collapsed, in their village Si-Kunda, and both of them sustained broken legs. Yaya is 5, and Lamin is nearly 3. Their mother and grandmother are staying at the hospital with them, and their family is supporting them with taking in food, and comfort.

We now have a lot of our students going into further education, which is really great news and we are very proud of them. Most are doing well and getting good results, so we wish them well, and congratulations to them all. The costs of course go up as they need more text books and higher school fees. We are managing to keep up with the increasing costs at the moment, but will need to start raising more funds over the next year to ensure they all get what they need to continue, and to also fund our projects in the area. We(the charity)are committed to ensure that we do manage to see them all through their education. We are very fortunate to have so many who donate regularly to the charity for a student, and others for the schools and projects, they are all valuable contributions and really do 'make a difference'.

If you would like any more information, or if there is anyone else who would like to contribute, either as a one-off, or regularly please let me know!! Contact details on this website, Sue

Students, Busumbala and Sailing!

2010-09-05T02:07:00.000-07:00

Hi!
A brief update of progress....... at the moment all the school fees and enrolements are being completed for the new school year which is about to start. We have a few students moving to Upper Basic Schools this year, some moving onto Grade 12, and student Seedy Jammeh is enroling in the GTTI (Gambia Technical Training Institute) to start a 3 year course to train as an electrician. Lamin is continuing at the University, and our Nursery teacher Ansu is starting his 3rd year of teacher training. We are very proud of all of our students, one or two need a bit more encouragement, but most of them work hard to achieve the very best they can.

All projects are running smoothly, and the house at Busumbala has now progressed up to the roof. There is a lot still to do, plastering, doors, floors to be tiled, the roof and verandah to be done, but hopefully it will not be too long now before it is completed and Sankung's family can move in, and of course it can then be used for any of our students that need somewhere to stay while at further education.

Marje and Liz are going to Gambia in November, and will be visiting all the projects and schools we support. I will then be going in February hopefully for a month, along with other charity trustees and supporters.

We will be distributing our next newsletter in January, but will meanwhile update the website very soon.

On a personal note, I returned from my last sailing trip late July, after spending over five weeks at sea from St.Maartens to Portsmouth in 35foot yacht "True Colours", with three friends. It was a fantastic time, and we felt so privilaged to see so many sightings of whales and dolphins along the way, plus amazing sky changes and magical night watches. It was quite eventful, including a large motor yacht bringing over to us chocolate ice cream mid-Atlantic - what a treat!! a close encounter with the Portuguese Navy, and an even closer encounter with a whale that collided with us East of The Azores causing damage to the boat, and unfortunately to itself as well. Generally the weather was kind to us, just one week of rough weather, and then at times no wind at all. It was extremely hot for the first couple of weeks and therefore very uncomfortable,then it became much damper, and by the last couple of weeks we were in thermals and oilys! but what an experience! Sue

More updates....

2010-06-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

A few updates; The Busumbala build is in progress with all the blocks now made, the footings and soak away are now being done. The students in Grade 9 have all completed their end of year exams, and are eagerly awaiting August to find out if their results are good enough to continue to Grade 10. Si-Kunda School garden is flourishing with a good variety of produce. The tiles for the Skills centre floor have been ordered, and will be laid very soon. Saine's house has a new roof, so now his family will be able to keep dry at night during the rainy season which is due to start any time now.

The BonusBall fundraising event is now in progress. We had a great response to this, thank you to everyone taking part! Hopefully we will be publishing weekly the winners on this website very soon. (We have had two winners so far, Lynda Osborne and Craig Seckington)

I am off to do the Atlantic sailing bit again tomorrow. So I'm all packed now and almost ready to go....we should arrive in Portsmouth towards end of July-'ish, depending on weather. Fair winds and in the right direction would be good?!!

Our newsletter is being distributed this week... if you would like one, or haven't yet received one by next week, please contact Marje - mjones@friendsosikunda.org. She can either send a paper copy, or electronically.

Dave maybe updating the Blog while I am away, so please do check occasionally to see if there is any news! Sue

Update....

2010-05-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Everything is going well with progress of the land in Busumbala and we will be sending out our next newsletter next month!
Lucky me.....I have been asked to crew on "True Colours" again, sailing from St. Martins in the Caribbean to England, via the Azores.. I am flying out on June 11th to join Fiona and Dave on their 35' yacht. After having sailed from East to West with them in 2008, I am now really looking forward to doing the return journey, there will be four of us on board this time. It will take a bit longer as it is further, and also we will have a stop for a few days in the Azores, to stock up and replenish! It will take approx 20 -24 days for the first leg, and approx 10-14 days for the second. About 3,300 miles in all, give or take a bit!

So I will be looking forward to getting the latest updates from Sankung when I return, though Marje will be keeping in regular contact with him while I am gone and ensuring that everything is progressing.

Friendship Gardens

2010-03-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

The women's gardens that we helped to create a few years ago are flourishing. The they are understandably very proud of the amount of produce they are growing, so here are a few photographs.....

Shipment

2010-03-30T09:21:00.001-07:00

Our shipment is now all packed up and on its first leg of its journey... in Terry's horse box. It will go to the shipping agent tomorrow, and then to Felixstowe to all be put into a container on a ship, and hopefully arrive in Banjul, The Gambia about 23rd April. Sankung will then collect it from the port, take it through customs, load it all onto geli geli's (local transport)and take it up country 200km to Si-Kunda village. It will then be distributed by him to Pakalinding, Toniataba, Fonkoi Kunda and Si-Kunda schools, the Red Cross in Soma, and Soma Hospital. There are also more supplies in this shipment for the Skills Centre. So many people contribute to our supplies for our shipments, for which we are very grateful as it means we are able to send twice a year.

First 2 days of our Feb/March trip to Gambia

2010-03-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

Gloz and I took off from Gatwick South at 8.20am on Friday, 26th Feb 2010. We arrived 7 hours later in Banjul.
We first of all made a visit to Busumbala after leaving the airport. This is where the compound is going to be built. There is water now in a standpipe available in the new compound we are building for a family, and students who are going to the coastal area to further their education.
6.50pm: We arrived at Sunshine Coast B&B – a great place to stay at Cape Point, Bakau. We discussed our immediate requirements to organise, made a list for Sankung of meetings to organise, in particular Soma Hosp, Red Cross, Mr Touray, Toniataba School, Women of Sikunda, PTA, and VDC, Pakalinding School to discuss internet access, and also the youths of Si-Kunda as a follow up from the meeting we had in November, a lot to sort out, but I am sure Sankung will manage! we need to sort out transport for tomorrow, supplies to buy, change our money to dalasi, and go to the bank, Gloz and I had a very enjoyable meal in the restaurant in the evening, the staff are lovely here, as is the owner, Liz, she will do anything to help and always make you so welcome.

Saturday, 27th Feb, 9.30am. Sitting in a little roadside stall having a drink, because the market isn’t open (found out later that it is a public holiday). There is no sign of Sankung, cannot call him as he has his mobile switched off, supermarket not open so cannot get our supplies either to go up country this morning, Oh well, I am sure it will all happen eventually, the sun is shining, we are looking forward to the week ahead, what more could you want!! Maybe Sankung has decided we have given him too much to do! I am sure he will turn up soon.

We decided we had just enough time to visit the Botanical gardens in Bakau, it is beautiful, we have a guide showing us round, so many varieties, dutchmans pipe being one of them, it is cool in the gardens so it made the walk very pleasant. We will visit again when we have more time as we did have to rush it a bit, but at 50 Dalasi each it was still well worth the visit. It is situated near the market on the opposite side of the road just as you start walking up towards Cape Point. Of course it was one of the only times I didn’t have my camera!! There were lots of varieties of birds, lots of paths and seating areas, we really enjoyed the visit.

We did some shopping eventually once the supermarket opened, but we didn’t have enough money, so left it there to collect later. Back at the guest house, we sit and wait for Sankung.

We set off about 12pm, and pass the University of Gambia where Lamin Njie attends. The students don’t all go to the same building, it isn’t big enough, so lectures are shared in about 3 locations down that street, one of them being the Gambian Development Institute, I took a photograph of that to send to Lamin's sponsors.

Its 12.35pm, we are in Serrukunda, there are no geli geli’s available because of the public holiday. So we make our way to Banjul to the port in the hope we can get a ferry to cross the estuary to the North Bank to find transport to take us to Farafenni.

Gloz originally said we would arrive at 6pm, I said 7pm and Sankung optimistically said 4pm! So I think we may all have underestimated our ETA!

In Banjul at 1pm, Gloz and I still in the taxi, Sankung has walked off somewhere, the luggage has all been transferred to a handcart, G and I are just cooking in the back seat while all this is going on, wondering what is going to happen next. Not the usual amount of transport about, the noise is usually deafening with so many people pushing and shoving, shame Gloz couldn’t have seen it like that, but there was a Muslim celebration last night with praying going on all night, hence the public holiday today.

Its 1.25pm and we are sitting on the ferry on the ‘top deck’ waiting for it to leave. It’s a beautiful sunny day, we are sitting overlooking the estuary, some of the passengers on the bow of the lower deck are playing djembes, we are eating our packed cheese and tomato rolls, and enjoying ourselves.

We set sail, a nice cool breeze, very uneventful enjoyable 45 minutes spent on the crossing to Barra on the North Bank. How they work out the loads on these ferrys I have no idea, there are some huge lorries on it, and goodness knows how many people.

I brought a Dictaphone at the airport to record everything instead of writing it all down, how much quicker it is, and it’s brilliant!! (…Its taking some time to type up now I am home though!!!) Our ferry will be docking soon, these ferry’s are quicker than they used to be and there are now 3 instead of 2 ferries, so at least you don’t have to wait for so long now.

After unloading at Barra and pushing our way through the crowds we hire a cart to carry the luggage, including 3 sacks of netting for the women’s garden. We get to the geli geli park, and wait, and wait. Eventually at 3.35pm we get in an 8 seater taxi, well at least there are 8 of us squashed in it., luggage piled on top

One hour and 25 minutes later we are in Farafenni!!!! The road was amazing, best I have seen on either north or south bank, road markings, occasional road sign, even one bus stop sign miles from anywhere, so it was a very good journey. 5.05pm we are looking for transport to take us to the ferry. Sankung finds us a horse and cart, so we all climb on, and off we trot and quite a speed, The horse does his job well, and we were deposited at a taxi park. I shall use the term ‘taxi’ very loosely, it was devoid of almost any interior, and was in as bad a state (almost) as the vehicle we used in Georgetown a few years ago, hot wire start and off we go towards the ferry port on the river. We arrived safely enough and then got another cart to take our luggage onto the ferry. We have to wait a while for it to fill up, then arrive once more on the south bank, another cart to take luggage to a taxi, we met a lovely young lady from Fonkoi Kunda who is in her 3rd year of teacher training, she managed to get a sponsor, and seems very grateful for it. We all pile in the taxi and go via Soma to Si-Kunda. Eventually arriving about 7pm, which is exactly the time I forecast! So seven hours and several modes of transport later we finally arrive! Hurrah!

One of the first people to greet us was Njie… and she called me Marje… Marje would have loved that! She was so pleased to see Gloz was with me, they always get on particularly well. The call to prayer started almost as soon as we arrived so Sankung disappeared for a while. Gloz and I started getting ourselves organised by unpacking all our luggage, and checking out the storeroom.. Sankung certainly had got a surprise for us, as it was now resplendent with lots of deep metal shelving, absolutely perfect! All our plastic boxes of supplies were put away, and it all looks so tidy, covered in orange dust of course, but very tidy. It makes a lot of difference, and we can now be so much better organised. Our whiteboard proved to be as useful this time as it was last.

Gloz and I decide an early night is on order. Well it was about 10pm eventually.

Feb 26th - March 5th - trip to Si-Kunda

2010-03-08T02:13:00.000-08:00

Gloz and I returned early hours of Saturday 6th after a very enjoyable trip. We only managed a week this time, but still managed to achieve all we wanted to, so it meant early mornings and late evenings! first update below, with more to follow ...
Si-Kunda School has had a 'makeover' - The teachers have painted the entire school, including the kitchen and the surrounding school walls and gates; A wall has been built to define the school garden from the playground; The storeroom has been cleared; Furniture has been made for the two teachers offices; Metal shelving; The roof and ceiling have been repaired in one corner of the school; Seedling beds have been prepared in the garden; A new metal lid has been fitted to cover the well; Paths made in the school grounds; and generally all the school is looking very tidy, spic and span! We attended the school's first PTA meeting, with a lot of good suggestions being made and it was agreed which actions should be first priority. School attendance is rising, and school dinners are now being supplied Monday to Thursday, with Tombolu being the school cook, we joined in one lunchtime and the rice was extremely tasty. She cooks it with some peppers and onion, and when there are vegetables harvested in the school garden the produce supplements the rice. To add to the rice we provide, we have been allocated some ground in the rice fields, with the promise by the elders of the village that groundnuts will be grown for the school also. Any surplus will be sold to go towards the school fund. The schools needs new classroom blackboards, but apart from that it has quite a lot of supplies to keep it going at the moment. The childrens desks and benches soon need to be replaced, but we are hoping that these will be done soon by another organisation, so we will wait to see it this happens, if not, then we will have to try to do something about it. The school is progressing, the teachers and pupils seem happy, there are improvements still to be made but with hard work and determination this school will continue to improve.

Next Trip to Gambia

2010-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Gloz and Sue are going to The Gambia on 26th February... we will travel to the village the following day for a week. The Si-Kunda Village School and the sponsored children are our priority this time, though we will of course be catching up with our other projects, including the build of a compound on the piece of land recently purchased in Busumbala.

Our next shipment is being packed, and supplies still being collected, this will arrive in Gambia in March, and will be distributed by Sankung our project manager.

Easy Fund Raising!

2010-01-25T07:43:00.001-08:00

Please consider using 3 very easy ways of raising funds for our charity... at no cost to yourself!!
All money raised for our charity goes direct to our schools and projects.......

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January 2010 Newsletter

2010-01-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Newsletter No.13 is now ready for posting this week to our sponsors.
If there is anyone else who would like a copy, or would like to be put on our mailing list, please contact one of us listed on the website either by email or phone.

Website updates

2009-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

The website Projects page for 2009 has now been completed, with a few recent photographs.....

Trip to Gambia November 18th 2009

2009-12-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well we returned very late on Friday, 4th December after a very enjoyable trip. The Tabaski celebrations took place in the middle of our stay in the village of Si-Kunda which we all enjoyed, though it meant we had to try to fit everything we needed to do around it which was a bit of a challenge! But we did achieve most of the things we really needed to do. This time there were four of us, Marje, Anne, Richard and myself. I will be writing more later, but just a few highlights.... Richard worked in the Computer Lab which we installed about 3 years ago in Pakalinding Upper Basic School, rebuilding the server and a few pc's that needed attention, also some work was needed on the pc's previously installed in the local hospital - Soma Medical Centre. The headmaster of the school and the medical staff at the hospital were very pleased and happy when Richard had finished his work there. We went to inspect the doors we have had replaced in the hospital, the old wooden ones were in a bad way, so we have replaced them with stong metal doors, and they are fitted with locks to make the hospital more secure.

We have made some changes at Si-Kunda Village School regarding staff, along with the support of the Akilo and elders of the village. We are also starting a PTA at the school which we hope will increase further interest from the parents by involving them more in the school's future. We have been given some land in the rice fields which will be cultivated by the women in the village to supplement the rice we are providing for the children at lunch time and hopefully help the school fund which has been started by the headmaster and our project manager.

We are going to create a library for the village in the Skills Centre we built last year. It will take up half of one of the large storerooms and be completely isolated from the rest of the building. It is in the centre of the village, and we believe it will be well used. The library in the school can then be just used by the school pupils themselves.

The building is going to start very soon on the land purchased earlier this year near the coast. This will be a compound for Sankung and his family (they have no permanent home at the moment), and included in this will be 3 rooms for students who are going to the coast for further education. Sankung is our project manager, so therefore needs to travel very frequently between the coast and Si-Kunda to enable him to do the work he does for the charity.

One of the students who will be staying there is Lamin Njie. We are so proud of him, he is our first sponsored student to be accepted at the University of Gambia. He will be doing Economics and Management. We have quite a few students now in higher education, so we are very grateful to our sponsors!

We will be posting our next newsletter to our sponsors in January, and will also be updating the website with more news of what has been done in 2009. But if you would like to know more, then please just ask, I am always happy to talk about the charity!

Sue

Next trip to Si-Kunda - November 2009

2009-11-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well it isn't long now, just over two weeks until we fly out to The Gambia on 18th November. Marje, Anne, Jamie, Richard and myself will be spending time progressing our projects and visiting the schools and hospital we help to support, our list of 'things to do' is getting longer by the day! We will return home on the 4th December.

We have just provided some bicycles for those students who have moved to nearer the coast who are now in further education. They have quite a distance to travel to school, so it has been essential that they have some transport.

We intend to start a new project by the end of this year, and have three very worthy options in mind, it would be great to do them all, but we will take one at a time. We will make the final decision on which it will be as soon as we return, then news of that will be posted on the blog and website.

Updates......

2009-10-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

The ladies of Sikunda are very busy in the Friendship Gardens and the skills centre now that they no longer have to be working in the rice fields again this year. All of the school supplies sent in the September shipment have now been delivered to Toniataba, Pakalinding, Fonkoi Kunda, Jiffen and Sikunda schools. Supplies for the hospital and Red Cross will be delivered when we arrive as they have specifically requested. Metal shelving and a cupboard are currently being made for Toniataba nursery class. Cassava and groundnuts have been harvested from the Sikunda village school garden, and proceeds from the surplus sold is being kept for the school fund.

Only four weeks until we fly out to The Gambia!

Marje is still busy making all sorts of jams, chutneys, jellies, etc and putting all the proceeds into the charity fund. Keep jamming Marje! Anyone interested in buying some home produce, please give her a call! (contact details on the website)

Kingsway United Church

2009-10-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday 14th October 09, Gloz and I were invited to the Kingsway United Church to talk about our latest projects and give a presentation of photographs. Kingsway have been supporting our charity since we started and we were very pleased to meet them again and to receive some supplies which we will be sending to Gambia on our next shipment. The ladies also purchased some of our Gambian crafts which helps towards our funds for the schools and projects we are supporting. Many thanks for a lovely afternoon ladies, (and gentleman)!

Fundraising Event - Art Workshop!

2009-10-10T10:25:00.001-07:00

Today is 10th October, 2009 and we have just finished a very successful fundraising event - an Art Workshop. Karen Evans very kindly volunteered to do this for us at my house in Wing. There was enough room for eight to attend comfortably, everyone brought something towards our lunch, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us - at the same time raising £320!!

I never realised how hard it would be to paint still life... apples in this case, using techniques none of us had used before. I think most of us were rather pleased with the results, and we certainly learned a lot.

Thankyou Karen for giving up your time to provide us with a memorable day and a substantial sum for the charity! We will look forward to the next workshop!