Building a school in Dairuharu, Brikama

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Kathryn Burrington

Earlier in the year we received a letter from clients of The Gambia Experience telling us about a nursery school that they had visited that was in desperate need of assistance.

As it happened I was visiting The Gambia myself the following week and took the opportunity to pop into the school. We weren’t exactly sure where the school was… somewhere in a district of Brikama called Dairuharu but after asking around we were taken to a family compound. What I found really shocked me. I was shown into a dark, tiny room with one of the walls looking as if it was about to collapse. My lower lip started trembling as I made out 15 children, with their teacher Amie, sitting amongst the rubble. I’ve visited many schools in The Gambia but I have never reacted like this before. Pulling myself together, I had a long chat with Amie and the children and, although I didn’t make any promises, I said I would try to help.

There are over 100 children in the area that need a school. The villagers had built the original building in mud bricks but did not have the money to finish it before the rainy season and the school fell down.

All that's left of the original building

Amie, Fatou and the headmistress, Yama, are trying to continue with the school in the room I saw which is in someone’s compound but apart from the terrible conditions the owner now wants the space back.

Me and the teachers

As chairman of a community group called “Nyodema” (which means “Helping each other” in Mandinka) I told the rest of the committee about the school. They were just as concerned as I was, however, we do not have anyone based in The Gambia and have never been involved in a building project before. We felt it was too much for us to take on alone. What to do?
We approached the charity, Karmic Angels, and when we told them about the school they selected a project manager to oversee the building work if we could raise the funds.

In April Shelagh (Nyodema’s treasurer) and I returned to The Gambia and met up with the Alkalo (village head), teachers and parents as well as Lamin and Pa Louis from Karmic Angels.

Pa Louis, Amie, Yama, Fatou and Lamin with the children of Dairuharu

I’m happy to say that we have already started fund-raising and so far have collected over £2,000 thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the Gambia Experience’s clients who first told us about the school. Our aim for 2010 is to build the first classroom (with proper foundations and cement rather than mud blocks) and purchase the necessary desks and chairs etc.

Next month Nyodema is holding their annual festival “Nyodema by the Sea” – all proceeds from the raffle will go towards re-building the school.
More information on the festival, Nyodema’s weekly African drumming workshops and Gospel Choir, as well as their on going health and education projects in The Gambia can be found on their website www.nyodema.org

Nyodema World Music and Arts Festival

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Kathryn Burrington

Children dancing to Baraka

Just a quick note to draw your attention to the latest Nyodema fund raising event, taking place in Bognor on the 23rd August.

World Music and Arts Festival
. Sunday 23rd August
. The Regis Centre, Belmont Street, Bognor Regis, West Sussex
. 11am to 8pm
. FREE

In the two years since its formation, Bognor Regis based charity, Nyodema, has brought a variety of outstanding world music to the town and through which raised money to help hundreds of children in The Gambia, West Africa lead a better life. However, Nyodema, which means “Helping Each Other” in Mandinka a West African tribal language, isn’t just about helping people in Africa, it’s about the local community too: giving local people a chance to enjoy (and participate in) music and arts from around the world.

Nyodema’s next event is their annual World Music and Arts Festival on Sunday 23rd August at The Regis Centre in Bognor Regis. The festival opens at 11am with mardi-gras masking making, craft stalls, children’s games, jugglers and African Drumming.

Tuareg jewellery Among the craft stalls, traditional hand-crafted silver Tuareg jewellery will be on sale from Mouhamed Ahnou, a Tuareg artisan from Niger. Sales of Mouhamed’s jewellery will help to fund life-enhancing projects for his village, such as constructing a grain store, establishing a pharmacy, supplying school books and planting fruit trees. The Tuareg rarely visit the UK and this is a rare opportunity to buy direct from the artisan.

Highlights of the day include:

11.30am West Sussex Guitar Club
The outstanding guitarists from the West Sussex Guitar Club will perform a variety of pieces from around the world.

1.00pm Six-Fifteen
Popular local trio, Six-Fifteen, will start the line-up in the main hall with a lively mix of bluegrass and jazz.

1.00pm, 2.00pm and 4.00pm African Drumming workshops

2.00pm Dub Side of The Boulder
A talented group of local 14 – 16 year olds playing a short set of reggae numbers.

2.30pm Beeja Indian Dancers (performance and workshop)
Beeja, a London based dance theatre company, will present an exciting insight into the Indian classical dance form ‘bharatanatyam’. A spectacular, colourful and vibrant celebration of dance and rhythm, this performance and workshop will introduce you to this sophisticated dance form in a way that is enjoyable and fun.

3.00pm Sam Brown
16 year old Sam, from Elmer, is an outstanding solo guitarist and recently won a Scholarship to the West Dean International Guitar Festival.

3.30pm Beeja Indian Dancers return to entertain you

4.00pm Children’s Mardi-gras parade

4.20pm Mundo Pequeno
Meaning “Small World” in Portuguese the bands name reflects their mutual love of different music from around the world. With a heady mix of Latin grooves, African rhythms and jazz harmonies, Mundo Pequeno’s music has the power to move both your heart and your feet.

6.00pm Baraka
Following their popularity at last year’s festival, headliners Baraka, will make a welcome return to this year’s event. Global beats, intricate rhythms and soaring melodies produce a unique sound guaranteed to get you dancing. Featuring musicians from Ghana, The Congo, Dominica, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, Baraka represents world music at its best.

Entrance to the festival is FREE, however, donations will be very welcome with all money raised going towards Nyodema’s health and education projects in The Gambia, West Africa.

Nyodema would like to thank its sponsors including Grassroots Grants, Telephony Business Solutions Ltd, Careline Services Ltd and The Gambia Experience

For More Information
Telephone: 07974 472137 (Kathryn)
Email: nyodema07@yahoo.co.uk
Web: www.myspace.com/nyodema

A week of Song in The Gambia

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Kathryn Burrington

I have recently returned from another wonderful week in The Gambia with my fellow Nyodema trustee, Shelagh Hamilton. This time our friend, Andrea Encinas, an experienced vocal coach, joined us. Andrea, originally from Trinidad, came to England as a nurse. She is now the director of British Gospel Arts, books choirs for The South Bank Centre, sings with the London Community Gospel Choir (you may have seen her singing at the FA Cup Final at Wembley in May!) and is studying for an MBA in Arts Management.

Well I’m pleased to say Andrea has fallen in love with The Gambia and I’m sure this will be the first of many visits.

Singing Lessons at Jeddah School

We had a very hectic week. Singing (and dancing) at Jeddah Progress Nursery School, Brikama was definitely one of the highlights. Andrea taught everyone some traditional Afro-Caribbean songs and the school choir from Farrato sang a mixture of English and African songs for us. Andrea’s enthusiastic approach was contagious as children, teachers and parents joined in this cultural exchange.

The recently formed drama group performed a couple of delightful short plays including one about learning English the ‘Jolly Phonics’ way and another about malaria prevention. I can’t explain how it felt to see two little girls playing, Kathryn and Shelagh, handing out mosquito nets. These two days were an excellent way to strengthen the bond between Nyodema and the local community.

Another Nyodema sponsored, teacher training course in ‘phonics’, took place over the next two days. This is a method of teaching English widely used throughout the UK and is proving to be a great success in The Gambia.

During the week we also managed to fit in a radio interview on Unique FM, a singing workshop at a Gospel church in Bakau and a visit to Serrakunda market. Andrea also took part in a couple of informal yet inspirational performances with local musicians.

The Malaria Play

As Andrea had never been to the Gambia before we took a day out to explore the area, looking at different housing conditions etc. Andrea was shocked at the extent of the poverty in The Gambia (and since being back has already started raising money for Nyodema).

I mustn’t forget to mention the children’s clothes and toys that we distributed throughout the week, in particular, 14 cuddly toys donated by Elsie, the three year old daughter of another Gambia Experience staff member. After looking at some photographs of Gambian children, Elsie decided that she did not need all her toys. On Boxing Day last year she sorted out all the ones she didn’t play with anymore and asked her Mum to give them to children in Africa. This was entirely her idea. Well done, Elsie!

Elsie was delighted to see the photos of her toys in Africa.

Our last night was spent dancing until the early hours to an excellent reggae/salsa band in a bar on the Senegambia strip. The following day Andrea and I said our goodbyes to the wonderful staff at our hotel (Sunset Beach in Kotu) who had made us feel so welcome and headed off to the airport.

Shelagh stayed on to organise the distribution of more mosquito nets and to meet the medical students from Florida who ran the first-aid teacher training course for us at Jeddah Progress Nursery School last year. This visit they ran a dental hygiene course for the teachers and supplied toothbrushes etc for the children.

Elsie's Teddy

Each time I visit The Gambia I learn so much, make numerous new friends and return home with many happy memories. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to this wonderful week. I’m very lucky to be part of ‘Nyodema’.

Nyodema’s Gospel Sing for The Gambia

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Kathryn Burrington

Singing for The Gambia with Daniel Thomas

Nyodema’s Gospel Sing for The Gambia (Saturday 16th May, Bognor Regis, West Sussex) was a great success. Vocal coach, Daniel Thomas, former choir director of the London Community Gospel Choir, worked us hard so that by the end of the day we could perform four beautiful songs to an audience of friends and family. Everyone was amazed at how much had been achieved in just one day. Daniel’s reputation as one of the best vocal coaches in Europe is well justified. The day was great fun and inspirational and it was wonderful to see a group of people of all ages, most of whom had never meet before, come together and produce such wonderful music.

Proceeds from the day will go towards Nyodema’s on going work with health and education in The Gambia.

Gospel sing for The Gambia

Below are some comments from people who took part in the workshop:

“Amazing day, well planned and exciting. Musically inspirational, enjoyable, pitched at the level of those aged from twelve to sixty! A wonderful way to raise money for the charity, while the ‘choir’ went from nowhere to everywhere in 6 hours, and revelled in the successful performance at the end of the day.” Geraldine Allchurch, Head of Music, Bourne Community College (workshop participant)

“We both enjoyed the singing and it was obviously a success all round. … one lad brought tears to my eyes and made the hairs on the back of my neck curl…
… how wonderful it was for building a community spirit.“ Eileen (audience member)

“When I walked in and heard the ‘choir’ I was amazed at how wonderful it sounded. I didn’t want it to end.” Peter (audience member)

For more photos of the event see the Nyodema Flickr stream

For more information on Nyodema please visit the page on the main Gambia Experience site. Stay in touch for future events!

For more on Daniel Thomas please see the British Gospel Arts website.

Daniel Thomases latest release – Higher-High

Jola Festival, 2007

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Kathryn Burrington

Jola Festival, The Gambia

In 2007 Nyodema’s first fund raising event included a photographic exhibition showing different aspects of Gambian life. With this in mind, we were invited by the Camarra family to a very important event – the initiation of their sons.

This is part of a large Jola festival with Jolas – an ethnic group present in The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau – from across The Gambia (and beyond) gathering together.

It was the day after we arrived in The Gambia, so with no time to acclimatise we were up early in the morning to meet Lamin and to start the drive up country.

Most of the way the roads were good but eventually we reached the bumpy dirt tracks we’d been warned about. After about an hour of jostling along we arrived at the temporary village built for the festival near Kanilai. Thousands of people had formed an arena and various groups were marching around, singing and displaying banners. Outside the arena the crowds strained their necks to look on and many had climbed trees to get a better view.

We were lucky to be given permission to go inside the arena to get some better photos. Knife-dancers, dressed in baggy trousers that would give MC Hammer a run for his money, were dipping large knifes in holy water prepared by their marabouts. They were only too willing to demonstrate for my camera how the sharp blades did not cut them. Unnerving but fascinating to watch, they used everything from cutlasses and razors blades to energetically strike their bodies without ever leaving a scratch.

Jola Festival, The Gambia

Back outside the arena the atmosphere was just as exciting. With long strands of beads crossing their torsos the sisters of those being initiated danced to frantic rhythms tapped out on triangular chimes. Punctuating the drumming, whistle blowing, chanting and dancing, thunderously loud bags exploded in my ears as ‘canons’ were ignited (metal tubes stuffed with gunpowder that are pushed into the ground and light by a fuse).

The mid-day sun was now high in the sky and we moved away from the crowds to find some shade. Sitting on a rug under a tree, we chatted with passers by while a couple of little girls plaited our hair.

We were served a traditional meal of goat (hopefully not the cute little one I saw tied up earlier). Everyone gathered around a large bowl and using either hands or spoons tucked in. The families of those being initiated have to save for many years as they are expected to feed not only their relatives and guests but also the local villagers.

When we’d finished our meal I photographed group after group of family members and friends.

Jola Festival, The Gambia

Then came the initiation of the sons. Friends and relatives pinned money onto their clothes before they were hoisted on to someone’s shoulders and led out into the bush. Traditionally they would spend weeks in the bush with their older male relatives learning about their responsibilities as a man, so we were surprised when they came straight back again! Presumably the training is now a more ongoing thing.

Our driver wanted to get back onto the tarmac road before dark so all too quickly we had to leave. It really was a fascinating day and we felt very privileged to have been invited.

When we next returned to The Gambia a few months later we presented the family with a photo album to say thank you for a wonderful day.

For more photographs of this event, see the Nyodema Flickr stream.

For more information on Nyodema please see their MySpace page

For other festivals in The Gambia, see The Gambia Experience festivals page