Here is one of the school's I work closely with. The photos is half of the school mamagement committee, a mixture of teachers and community members.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Karantaba Primary School - School Mnagement Committee
Here is one of the school's I work closely with. The photos is half of the school mamagement committee, a mixture of teachers and community members.
Fundraising letter
I have emailed this letter to friends and thought if anyone is following my blog and would like to donate, that would be great.
To date, $1400 has been raised, thankyou kindly for your generous donations and efforts. A little bit of money goes such a long way in the proud schools I work with in the rural Lower River Region (LRR) in The Gambia.
Since my last letter I have continued to work closely and form partnerships with principals and school communities in the LRR, particularly the 16 schools involved in the implementation of Whole School Development (WSD) process. WSD is a new Gambian initiative, funded by Department for International Development (DFID) and is being rolled out to all schools in The Gambia. It is an exciting time to be working here and assisting school communities in the implementation of WSD. These schools and their respective communities have been involved in intensive training in setting up committees, involving the community and students in decision making, finance training, school reviews, action plan writing and identifying school based issues. Together we have written one year development plans addressing the prioritised needs of the school. These actions will begin implementation at the commencement of the new school year, beginning on September 22nd.
As mentioned in the previous letter, I will use your financial contributions to purchase African story books and work with cluster trainers to deliver and fund teacher training in literacy. Some of the money will also be used to support identified needs of the WSD schools, as written on their one year plans.
Due to schools holidays and the upcoming religious celebration of Koriteh in October, I will begin school based workshops in November/December. All work being organised with schools will be captured on my blog .
I will gratefully accept further donations until end of January to further fund school based initiatives. Please forward on this email to schools or organisations that may be willing to assist, thanks.
Some facts:
l School fees for one child/ year is $1.00 AUS and not all families can afford this.
l A primary schools only source of income is student school fees. The Government does not supply additional funding.
l Stationery materials for teachers are donated by the Red Cross and other donors, but resources are limited.
l Generally, the only books found in schools are Gambian text books.
l Most schools do not have enough furniture for all students to sit on.
l Water supply to some schools does not exist due to damaged water pumps.
l No Primary school in the Lower River Region has electricity.
l Schools in my region have 40% of teachers who are Unqualified.
l The Lower River Region has 52 schools. It is the poorest region and has the lowest academic results in The Gambia.
To revisit ways you can be involved:-
l Use me as an initial link to a Gambian school and I can provide their address and set up communication. How and what you would like to do is up to you and the Gambian school. I can support for the time I'm in The Gambia.
l Fundraise or donate money for new books and local school initiatives. I'll provide evidence of this process on my blog through photos and written text.
l Learn about the Gambia. For example, students may come up with a list of questions and I can interview students or teachers and email back the responses with questions for you.
If you are willing to be involved in some way, please email me explaining your intentions and any questions you may have.
I will respond when I have email access, usually every 2 weeks.
If you would like to fund raise, THANKYOU! Just one donation of $15.00 can purchase a book.
Thankyou for your support and the donations raised already, it will truly make a difference.
To date, $1400 has been raised, thankyou kindly for your generous donations and efforts. A little bit of money goes such a long way in the proud schools I work with in the rural Lower River Region (LRR) in The Gambia.
Since my last letter I have continued to work closely and form partnerships with principals and school communities in the LRR, particularly the 16 schools involved in the implementation of Whole School Development (WSD) process. WSD is a new Gambian initiative, funded by Department for International Development (DFID) and is being rolled out to all schools in The Gambia. It is an exciting time to be working here and assisting school communities in the implementation of WSD. These schools and their respective communities have been involved in intensive training in setting up committees, involving the community and students in decision making, finance training, school reviews, action plan writing and identifying school based issues. Together we have written one year development plans addressing the prioritised needs of the school. These actions will begin implementation at the commencement of the new school year, beginning on September 22nd.
As mentioned in the previous letter, I will use your financial contributions to purchase African story books and work with cluster trainers to deliver and fund teacher training in literacy. Some of the money will also be used to support identified needs of the WSD schools, as written on their one year plans.
Due to schools holidays and the upcoming religious celebration of Koriteh in October, I will begin school based workshops in November/December. All work being organised with schools will be captured on my blog .
I will gratefully accept further donations until end of January to further fund school based initiatives. Please forward on this email to schools or organisations that may be willing to assist, thanks.
Some facts:
l School fees for one child/ year is $1.00 AUS and not all families can afford this.
l A primary schools only source of income is student school fees. The Government does not supply additional funding.
l Stationery materials for teachers are donated by the Red Cross and other donors, but resources are limited.
l Generally, the only books found in schools are Gambian text books.
l Most schools do not have enough furniture for all students to sit on.
l Water supply to some schools does not exist due to damaged water pumps.
l No Primary school in the Lower River Region has electricity.
l Schools in my region have 40% of teachers who are Unqualified.
l The Lower River Region has 52 schools. It is the poorest region and has the lowest academic results in The Gambia.
To revisit ways you can be involved:-
l Use me as an initial link to a Gambian school and I can provide their address and set up communication. How and what you would like to do is up to you and the Gambian school. I can support for the time I'm in The Gambia.
l Fundraise or donate money for new books and local school initiatives. I'll provide evidence of this process on my blog through photos and written text.
l Learn about the Gambia. For example, students may come up with a list of questions and I can interview students or teachers and email back the responses with questions for you.
If you are willing to be involved in some way, please email me explaining your intentions and any questions you may have.
I will respond when I have email access, usually every 2 weeks.
If you would like to fund raise, THANKYOU! Just one donation of $15.00 can purchase a book.
Thankyou for your support and the donations raised already, it will truly make a difference.
Black eye
This is what you get when you dance to the wee hours of the morning and slip face first on tiles, another proud moment!!
Tumba fly
3 weeks ago, I had sore appear under my arm pit. Iintially it looked like a pimple, it then began to get infected, red and pussy. I thought it may have been a boil and I tried to squeeze it, but no luck. It just grew redder and more pussy. On day 5, a pain shot through my body when the puss seemed to moved in and out. I showed some of my friends the state of my arm pit, and one thought to could be Tumba Fly maggot. I didn’t believe her as noone I had met has had one. We placed some Vaseline over the infected area as this closes up the air hole of the maggot. Sure enough, the maggot reared its little head. My three friends and all screamed!!! It was so disgusting. After many attempts, my friend managed to pull it out. I gave birth to a 1cm long, bouncing baby maggot, was a proud moment but not quite the birth delivery I had in mind.
Tumba fly eggs land on clothes hanging outside, if they are worn immediately, they can imbed into your skin. I think I got mine from my underwear. I have photos of the maggot and will put them on in the next few weeks.
Tumba fly eggs land on clothes hanging outside, if they are worn immediately, they can imbed into your skin. I think I got mine from my underwear. I have photos of the maggot and will put them on in the next few weeks.
Gambia college
I have been teaching at Gambia Teacher’s college for the past 5 weeks. My role there has been Head of English during the summer program. During this time I have worked with fellow tutors in planning English lessons for student teachers, half of which have been teaching for one year. I emphasised the need for students to be actively involved in their learning through thinking activities, group work and literacy games. Trying to encourage teachers to move away from chalk and talk and text book based lessons.
Classes had up to 70 students which was fine but difficult to remember individuals. I’ll be able to visit some of my students who are working in my region and support them where necessary.
During my time at Gambia college, I was only an hour and 20min away from the coast. I commuted most days on a bush taxi to and from work. The time spent on the coast was brilliant, I was able to catch up with friends and play team sport like Frisbee and touch rugby on the beach. Life on the coast to completely different to rural life. Even though The Gambia is so small and there very few things to do, life on the coast allows you to lead an active social life with team sport and house parties, hanging out the beach was a treat (not on the sand, as I get hassled by Gambian men, locally called bumsters) and there are places to go and eat. Soma has no where to go and eat, just ladies selling food on the side of the street. But is saying this, I missed my Gambian friends in Soma and my job of going on Trek to schools and assisting my Regional team.
Whilst teaching at Brikama, I met up with a principal, Mr Fatty, at his compound and met his first wife. I had already met and stayed in his second wife’s compound up country. Once again, I felt welcomed and met the extended family. On one occasion his compound was flooded by the rain, as seen in the photos.
Naming Ceremony
My colleague, Seedy Jammeh invited me to attend his daughter’s naming ceremony. This celebration is held within a year of a child’s birth. It involves the women preparing Gambian dishes for all of the guests. These are distributed in the huge shared food bowls. Family guests from the wife's side, travel far and wide to attend and money is generally donated to the family.
Traditionally, women and men sit separately and have special duties during the celebration. Women dance and have time to go present baby clothing gifts. Following this, men sit together in a group with a Maribou spiritual leader who enthusiastically leads prayers and encourages further money donations for the family.
Bags of popcorn and little donuts are distributed amongst the guest as little gifts.
I knew quite a few people there including work colleagues, local teachers, Seedy’s family members and ladies I have met during my Mandinka classes I attend in the same village. The people are very friendly and welcoming, even though I stand out and get swarmed by children, I felt very comfortable sitting around and chatting.
Traditionally, women and men sit separately and have special duties during the celebration. Women dance and have time to go present baby clothing gifts. Following this, men sit together in a group with a Maribou spiritual leader who enthusiastically leads prayers and encourages further money donations for the family.
Bags of popcorn and little donuts are distributed amongst the guest as little gifts.
I knew quite a few people there including work colleagues, local teachers, Seedy’s family members and ladies I have met during my Mandinka classes I attend in the same village. The people are very friendly and welcoming, even though I stand out and get swarmed by children, I felt very comfortable sitting around and chatting.
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