Our History: How it Began

APRIL 2004

Following a holiday in the Gambia and a visit to one of their nursery schools we decided to try and help them. We were struck by the appalling conditions, that the teachers and pupils had to work in, but the continued enthusiasm of both.

Nursery Education in he Gambia is not funded by the Government but by the local community in which the school is situated. Those parents who can afford to pay do so, and those that can't, don't. Sometimes there is not enough money to pay the teachers, but they continue to teach.

Having expressed a desire to help, our guide on that day Moses, took us to several other nursery schools which were in an even worse state and needed even greater help. We decided to help a school called Badala Nursery School which was in a suberb of the largest town called Serrakunda.

On our return from the Gambia we set about raising mony and prioritising the needs of the school. We bought pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, chalk and together with a generous donation of exercise books from Almar Printing in Tring, shipped them over to the school

The next priority was a health one. They had no toilets, just a hole in the ground. After holding a disco, getting donations from family and friends, we raised £450, enough to build a two toilet block

The school building was falling down so we negotiated with the owner of the land to sell it to us for £4000. With the intention of building them new classrooms. This money was raised by holding another disco, starting a child sponsorship scherme, and with the help of collegues, parents and pupils of Aylesbury Musisc Centre a variety of concerts.The £4000 was raised by the time we returned to the Gambia at Easter 2005