Trip to Gambia

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

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!

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

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

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!

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....

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