Making a difference

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Kathryn Burrington

Gambia Experience Staff raising money to help school

Kevin, IT Manager at The Gambia Experience, and his wife Rachel, recently returned from a holiday in The Gambia. While there they visited a couple of schools and although they were shocked by lack of resources they were greatly impressed by the teachers and pupils, in particular at Kitty Upper Basic School.

Gambia Experience staff are holding a ‘Back to school’ fund-raising day on Friday 20^th May. The school has recently built an urgently needed new classroom but does not have enough money to finish it and has applied to our School Development Fund for assistance. We hope to raise enough money to finish the roof of the new classroom before the rainy season in June. If you would like to make a donation to this or similar projects you can do so through our School Development Fund website.

Kitty Upper Basic School does not have enough money to complete the roof of the new Home Economics classroom before the rainy season starts next month. Classes are currently held outdoors.

School Partnerships

Below, Kevin’s wife, Rachel (who is a teacher in a comparative school in the UK) explains why she is so determined to make a difference.

You can’t help but be impressed by seeing four classes of students voluntarily in school revising and practicing for their final exams during the Easter holidays.

All listening attentively to their teacher no matter how dull the content of the lesson, all concerned that they must pass their exams as it will ensure them a better future and all looking like they couldn’t wait to get out and enjoy the rest of their holiday, now you don’t get that in the UK.

Students at Kitty studying hard for their forthcoming exams

You also don’t get students facing the reality a Gambian student faces each day; that school costs, your classroom is a brown block bricked room with tables and chairs, a blackboard, a few student drawn posters, a corrugated iron roof and that’s about it. No textbooks, no interactive whiteboard, no laptops, no net books, no DVD’s or video’s, this is education literally at the chalk face. The playground is just a dirt area, with little recognisable as play equipment on it, hopes are held to flatten an outlying piece of land to create a football field. What a stark contrast to the sprung floor gymnasium, swimming pool and sports hall at the sports college where I teach.

The water for the school comes from a well just outside the school’s gates, critical for watering the student’s banana trees – a project which enables each student to produce bananas for sale to raise their school fees or for eating at home, if the 150 dalasi a year isn’t impossible to pay by the family.

So similar when it comes to curriculum; Maths, English, French, Science, Home Economics, all feature highly and yet so different when it comes to the facilities that the schools have to offer.

You can’t also help but be overwhelmed about how little it would cost to make things that bit easier for the students and staff who work in a Gambian school, you’re not talking multi-million pound projects, needing the assistance of the Lottery or Sports England as seems to be the case in the UK, but the funds to complete the new roof of almost constructed Home Economics Room.

It’s made me think…how to help, how to get my students back in the UK to understand the differences between life in England and life in the Gambia, how to inspire them to want to find out more and do more. So much to gain from a real partnership with a school in the Gambia, ours being Kitty Upper Basic school. The link has been established, headteacher met, school briefly visited, now time to introduce the school to the students where I work, who knows what their response will be, I hope one of interest, possibility and a desire to get involved.

Meanwhile any help with the project much appreciated! Rachel Burton

To make a donation or find out more about School Partnerships please visit our School Development Fund website.

UPDATE: Photographs of the ‘Back to School’ day are now on Facebook

Football under a baobab tree

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Matt Smith

Long-time friend of The Gambia and The Gambia Blog (two posts of his have appeared before: here and here) filmmaker and philanthropist Ian Wiggins has recently been back to the old country, handing out Blackburn shirts and footballs to local teams and villages. You can see his latest film (not to mention some great images) and follow his exploits below. Thanks again to Ian and good luck with everything in the future!

Football under a Baobab tree from Wiggy (Ian Wiggins) on Vimeo.

Before my recent trip to the Gambia Ihad done some filming for Blackburn Rovers Centre of Excellence, in return they donated lots of kits and footballs. This time, however, they put me in touch with a guy who runs a local amateur football team, “Darwen Spartans”. I met up with him and he had lots, and I mean lots, of kit for me. I ended up witharound 80 – 100 kilo of stuff! Luckily, I was travelling with family and friends, so I got everyone to contact the airline and ask for the charity bag allowance of an extra 10 kilo each. On arrival at Banjul it was even more chaotic than usual, but all the bags had arrived safely, and soon we were on our way. I was staying in a rented house in Kerr Serring, and it took me a couple of days to sort the kit out into team strips and bag them up ready for delivery.

Football in The Gambia. (Image by Ian Wiggins)

My first visit was to London Corner in Serrekunda. Me, my Dad and a couple of friends arrived at a compound where, as per usual, there were many more boys than I had brought kits for, but they didn’t seem to mind. In fact the teams share the kits, so everyone gets the use of them. We then drove on towards a football pitch about a mile away, but the Police stopped us, as our driver had no number plates on display. A heated argument took place with much arm waving and even pushing, pushing the Policeman that is!

Spectators! (Image by Ian Wiggins)

We arrived at the pitch – the usual sandy patch of land. Three women had tables laid out selling sweets (for our benefit) so my friend bought a few lollipops from one lady, which started a heated argument between them, so we bought all the sweets for about 200 dalasi, and handed them out to the kids, much to their delight. I took up my camera and filmed the boys doing a few tricks with the footballs, and then we had to be on our way. It was time for a Julbrew!

A few days later we had a long walk down the beach to Bijilo, where we found a little shack with a garden with some tents, they belonged to some Rastas. They lived in the tents and the shack was their bar. We bought a few drinks, talked about football and the plans they had for the place, they showed us around and we could see that they had started to dig a well and build a toilet block, it was getting late so we said our goodbyes and promised we’d all be back and have a day with them drinking lots. They said they would bring the drums and get plenty of drink in, so we took their phone number and said we’d give them a call.

Image by Ian Wiggins

My next football match was in Sukuta. I arrived at a field with a couple of friends and there were around 60 boys waiting. This was a proper football academy named FC Dahaba. They were really happy to receive the kits and they put on an excellent match for us in the baking sun, even wearing the jackets I’d brought along, despite the heat. We stayed a while and watched them play, but time pressures meant we had to sneak away mid-game. A couple of days later I gave out some “Darwen Spartans” jackets to some friends of mine who sell fruit on the beach whom I’ve known for many years. I asked them if they’d sing and dance for my video so that I could show it to the football club back home. As always they obliged.

Darwen Spartans! (Image by Ian Wiggins)

A crowd gathered at the Holiday Beach club as they had heard the commotion. We even had Benachin on the beach, which a girl I know made for us: it’s a Gambian rice dish with vegetables and in our case some fish. It was all cooked in one pan over some charcoal, took a few hours to make, and was the best I’ve ever tasted. My next visit was to Jambanjali, a poor village with no pitch a few miles from Sanyang. This was my best experience yet, as the locals here don’t often see tourists and so don’t get many donations. I handed out the Darwen kits, first to the older boys, along with a few footballs which had to be inflated, this took around an hour! Also I had lots of brand new Blackburn Rovers kits and tracksuits with labels still attached, for the younger boys. With smiles on their faces, they all started training in the street and quite a crowd came to watch. The younger boys and the older boys formed themselves up into teams and played games at either end of the street. They were all really thankful and sang and cheered for the video.

Image by Ian Wiggins

Towards the end of my trip I still had lots of Blackburn Rovers kits and tracksuits left. I decided to give some of these out at the compound where Fatou, the girl who made us Benachin on the beach, lived. I also gave them out around the Senegambia area. I’ve done this for the last few years, because I want Blackburn Rovers shirts everywhere; it’s good exposure for the club and the tourists are always amazed when they see the shirts on every corner. But I also saved a few for the Rastas I’d met at their makeshift bar on the beach. As promised we went back, we took our own beer and soft drinks and asked they fetched some ice. We gave them a generous donation (for bar hire!!) and had a great day, with drumming, lots to drink, and a fruit seller who give us some impromptu dancing. The trip had come to a really happy end.

Image by Ian Wiggins

Since returning I have volunteered to go back for a couple of months in November 2011, when I’ll be doing some filming for a charity in Brikama, which runs an HIV awareness and Drop-in Centre. I’ll be making a short film for the organizer, Ebrima, aimed at helping raise awareness, and at getting donations and volunteer help. I’m also going to be doing a couple of short films for Mondochallenge (www.mondochallenge.co.uk), a charity volunteer organization with projects in The Gambia. They want me to film some short videos that will help promote their volunteer teaching in small schools scheme, and maybe help inspire more volunteers to choose The Gambia as their destination. I’m also hoping to take kits and school equipment out on a bigger scale. I’ll be looking into shipping costs, as I know I can collect a lot more if I have the means to get it there. So, until my next visit, thank you for reading, hope you enjoy the video! Oh! And a massive thanks from me and the people of The Gambia for Mark Atkinson of The Darwen Spartans JFC and Gemma Donnelly of The Blackburn Rovers Centre of Excellence.

Erin Poirier: Two feet, one heartbeat = Change

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Matt Smith

Today we have a guest post from Erin Poirier. In June, Erin will be running across The Gambia, a distance of some 400km in 17 days, and in heat approaching 40 degrees. She is doing this for the Nova Scotia Gambia Association or NSGA, a charity based in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. It’s a charity that seeks to educate children into the dangers of HIV and to teach them how to disseminate this message amongst their friends and families, but in the last two years the charity has run into financial difficulties, which is where Erin comes in… Her run will hopefully raise enough money to keep the charity solvent and allow it to continue to carry out its vital and ennobling work. We wish Erin (and her co-runner Ashley and the rest of her support team) all the luck in the world with this, and urge you to visit Love4Gambia where you can find out more.

Erin Poirier and Ashley Sharpe in The Gambia

Two feet, one heartbeat = Change.
By Erin Poirier

On my third day in The Gambia I looked down at my key chain thermometer, yanked it from the hook on my gym bag, and threw it in the trash.

It read a blazing 38 degrees and I was realizing the hard way that temperature is irrelevant on the shores of West Africa – there was only hot or hotter. “Hot” means you’re squirming in a small pool of wetness under your clothes and your coffee-colored hair feels hot to the touch. “Hotter” means your bra and underwear are saturated in sweat and your hair just won’t seem to dry after your shower.

I was there during a scorching summer in 2007 when I worked as a nurse with the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association (a registered Canadian Charity)’s Gender Equity and Youth Leadership through Health and Human Rights Education project. Big project name, big ambition: to keep kids alive through HIV and malaria education.

This July, I’ll once again brave the heat of The Gambia to lace up my sneakers in an attempt to run all the way across the country in support of the same cause. Over my 430km route, I’ll be raising money for the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association (NSGA).

In 2007, I went through a life-changing experience when I taught youth to be peer health educators. These kids returned to their schools to share HIV prevention messages with youth in their communities.

In a country that does not offer sexual health in school, the role these kids play in preventing HIV is vital. It’s not something we often think about in a country where health care is readily available and going to school is a right, not a privilege.

But when I returned home to Nova Scotia, Canada, I couldn’t get The Gambia out of my mind. I thought about how my teenage students, some as old as 19 years, would sit three to a two-person desk, often with their arms around each other in affection. I thought about how they valued education in a way that you can only understand if 50 per cent of your peers can’t afford school fees.

Erin Poirier in The Gambia

I thought about the answer I got when I once asked my class: “How do you help somebody with HIV stay healthy?”

“They need love and caring and understanding,” they said, “They need hope for the future, and a positive attitude.” I joined the NSGA board of directors and this year, after 25 years of operation, NSGA began to run into financial problems.

We had endured two years of financial loss and were looking at a third. Like many other charities, our donor base was down and some board members felt that we may have reached the end of the organization.

I thought about my Gambian youth and couldn’t reconcile their thoughts. I wanted to do something.
Then I thought about running. I’ve had lots of success racing. The Gambia is a small country. It would be possible to run all the way across The Gambia.

So this is what I’m doing. I’ve called my campaign Love4Gambia. I’ll begin my mission on July 4, and over 17 days, I will run 430km (that’s a half marathon each day) from Basse, near the Senegalese border, to Banjul on the Atlantic coast.

Four support people will join me. My friend and fellow NSGA volunteer nurse, Ashley Sharpe, will be my medical support. Two members of our NSGA staff in The Gambia will also accompany us.
Sure it’s going to be tough. The heat will present my biggest challenge because I know that no matter what length of time I spend in Africa, I’ll never acclimatise to it.

So I am trying to prepare my body for the heat by going to hot yoga at Halifax Yoga Studio. Sometimes in the studio, I feel like I’ve become one with the melting air. Other times, I think: “Gentle Lord! It’s 37 degrees in here!” I look like I just got out of a swimming pool and this is average temperature I’ll be running in.

On these days, the preparation isn’t so productive.

Right now, my marathon training with coach Cliff Matthews is geared toward my third Boston Marathon. I’m running 85 km-plus per week, fitness that will carry well onto my plane to Africa.
Running is the easy part. Cliff dictates my training plan and I do exactly what he says. It’s hard work, but it’s something I love.

Erin Poirier on MacDonald Bridge

The really brutal part is doing the extra things I need to do to stay healthy in this long training cycle. I’m piling food into my body like I’ll never eat again. I’m forcing myself to strength training.

I have chiropractor Dr. Jason Gray working with me for free- his contribution to Love4Gambia. Weekly treatment keeps me healthy and he sets my strength-training program. I’m lucky for this.

The sidewalks have been in poor condition during this wicked winter we’ve endured on the East Coast of Canada. The wind freezes my cheeks and sometimes my contact lenses, blurring my vision.

The “nicest” place to run outdoors in the entire city has become the MacDonald Bridge sidewalk deck where plowing and salting are thorough. The Halifax Ocean Terminal at Marginal Road, with its bright lighting and quality snow removal service for transport trucks and trains, has also been kind to winter runners.

An average training week for me is 6 days and looks like this:

Monday- easy 6-8km + hot yoga
Tuesday- track workout with Cliff- often short and fast intervals, such as 10 x 800m, total 14-17km with warm-up and cool-down
Wednesday- recovery 12km + strength training
Thursday- track workout with Cliff- often long intervals close to marathon pace, such as 3 x 15 minutes, total 14-17km
Friday- recovery or easy 12 km
Saturday- long run 2-2.5 hours including quality speed segment every 2nd week.
Sunday- rest + strength training

So yes, it’s going to be tough. I knew that when I said I’d do this. But it’s worth it.

While volunteering in The Gambia, I saw how the NSGA’s programs directly impacted the youth. When the NSGA ran into trouble, I knew I needed to do something to help these programs continue. And that’s what I’m going to do.

To support my Love4Gambia campaign and to follow my progress as I prepare for and run across The Gambia in July, visit me at www.love4gambia.com

South Nottingham College trip to Gambia 2011

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Matt Smith

Today we have a guest post from Joachim Shotter who recently went to The Gambia with students from Nottingham College’s Travel and Tourism department. Joachim was there on behalf of a local radio station, 97.5 Kemet Fm, and thanks to him for this heartfelt account and some great photographs.

South Nottingham Colege and the Tumani Tenda (image by Joachim Shotter)

South Nottingham College’s Travel and Tourism department not only teaches students within the classroom environment but also gives the students real life opportunities and experiences. Trips abroad are part of the curriculum which allows the student to take on the real life role of a Tour Operator and Tour Guide. Before each trip students are required to research each destination and plan the excursions.

South Nottingham College help to manage and run a College within The Gambia (The Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia ITTOG) teaching Gambians Travel and Tourism . The Gambian college has been running for the past 5 years and awards scholarships for Gambian students to study in the UK. One of these students called Lamin is now head teacher at the Gambian college and has taken English teaching methods back to his new set of students. The College has around 100 students attending. The South Nottingham students were invited for the day to participate and make a presentation to the Gambian Travel and Tourism students.

The latest trip to The Gambia was for an event called Camp Africa. This event brings Travel and Tourism students from countries such as The Gambia, the UK, Senegal and Norway to meet and share ideas about the tourism industry and their own cultures.

The Gambia is a very small African country with a small coast line and surrounded by Senegal. Part of the old Mali empire it has no mineral deposits or natural resources. It does however have a growing tourism industry and it is building itself up as one of the most popular African holiday destinations – making The Gambia a perfect place for the students to test out their Travel and Tourism skills, within a new cultural environment.

The student’s trip to Kunta Kinteh island (St James Island) where the slave trade took place, was a day of high emotion. The students arrived at Juffureh village by boat from Banjul. A long walk down an extended jetty leads to the main village entrance which has a remembrance statue to the slave trade. “Forgive but never forget” These words were spoken many times here by the tour guides. A strong statement and fitting to all who lost their lives and homes during this period. The students then went to the slave museum which was a selection of installations, pictures of slaves on the Trans-Atlantic ships, and large shackles used to chain the slaves during the extended voyages. There was also a section dedicated to modern black achievements and people who have risen above the western operation after the slave trade.

Tako Taal Chief of Juffureh. (Image by Joachim Shotter)

The next part of the trip gave the students the opportunity to meet the village chief, Tako Taal, who is the first Gambian female chief after independence. She is revered as one of the most important women in The Gambia and has paved the way for women to be accepted as equals in Gambian and African politics. She granted and gave the students permission to look around the village and visit the family of without a doubt the most famous African slave – Kunta Kinteh.

The Chief at Tumani Tenda. (Image by Joachim Shotter)

On arrival at the family home of Kunta Kinteh the students sat down in front of two elderly women dressed in golden and white robes. On the left was Bamtou Kinteh the eighth generation Granddaughter of Kunta Kinteh and to the right Mariama Fofana, a true African Queen. The guide introduced our group and we were told the story of Kunta Kinteh and how the film “Roots” was conceived. Pictures were taken with them, which was a great honour. The next stop on the visit was to Kunta Kinteh Island itself. Hearts had stated to beat a bit faster here, as this was the place where they loaded the slaves on to the ships bound for the new world. The island, set right in the middle of the main Gambian river, has recently been renamed Kunta Kinteh Island. The remains of the buildings are extremely worn down with only a few walls still standing. The Baobab trees were white in colour, covered with the sea salt from heavy winds. The only truly remaining building left was the slave cell, which has survived due to being underground and hidden from the elements. This is a crammed small room which held up to 25 slaves at a time. It was a cold room with a small round window high up and set back in the stone wall – it seemed that more were forced in at times. The realisation didn’t sink in until the students had left the island and set on their journey back.
This is a journey all Africans should take, a journey all humans should take. As only by having a better understanding of who we all are can only make for a better understanding of each other.

Some student and teacher comments from the trip

Natalie Jones: I have seen places like the villages I visited on TV but i never thought it to be as bad as TV make out….

Lauren fox: My time in the Gambia has been a once in a life time experience. With breathtaking views and people.

Jessica Craven (Teacher): As a student teacher I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to visit such an amazing country, particularly with the students as I can share in their experiences.

Binta Barra – Gambian Student: I have visited places, where I haven’t visited before. Exchanging ideas and interpreting the local languages to my friends.

School Development Fund Newsletter

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Kathryn Burrington

Having re-launched The Gambia Experience’s School Development Fund last year, we have produced our first newsletter with the latest news on school projects and fund raising including how you can raise money for the fund when you shop online without it costing you a single penny with EasyFundRaising!

The newsletter can be downloaded from the SDF website. If you would like to receive future editions you can register on the site too.