Bakalarr Basic Cycle School
was the first school that Pageant started to help and has been the focus of many Pageant projects. Ian and Pippa's
first visit
in 2001 took place before Pageant was set up. Bakalarr [MAP] is
located north of the Gambia River. As with many Gambian villages,
there are alternate spellings and names; Bakolar & Bakalari. It is reached from the capital
Banjul by a ferry to Barra, followed by a road journey of some 15 km.
Five villages are served by this school.
Classroom Floors
Although the classrooms at Bakalarr were
largely in buildings constructed of concrete (rather than mud)
blocks, the floors
were just natural sandy earth. Pageant paid for concrete floors to
be laid in these classrooms. (more
details and pictures)
School Kitchen
The school kitchen at Bakalarr provided meals for more than 300
children a day, but was very dilapidated. During the
summer of 2001 Pageant donated money for building materials, whilst
parents and villagers provided most of the labour. (more
details and pictures)
Bakalarr Kitchen
Boundary Wall
When Ian and Pippa first visited Bakalarr school, there was
no perimeter fence. Traffic could just drive across the school
playground and the school garden was also unfenced. Children,
visitors and wildlife could roam the area unchecked.
Pageant paid
for the construction of a new boundary wall. (see
pictures of its construction) The
outside of this wall has since been transformed into an 'art
gallery', with numerous paintings by a Grade 9 pupil, Ousman F
Sowe (and some help from the art master). (see
the pictures)
Ousman has since
moved on from Bakalarr school, but his interest in art is
undiminished and he intends to partly finance his education by
selling his pictures. (more
of his work) and (exhibition
at Horsham)
Bakalarr school always had a vegetable
plot, producing food for the kitchen, and also for teaching science
and agriculture.
After
completion of the new boundary wall, a much larger area could be
cultivated, safe from marauding goats. Seeds were donated by
Unwins and
Suttons,
and there were sufficient seeds to supply
several schools including Bakau New Town and Sinchu
Baliya, as well as Bakalarr
school and village community.
The old toilet had to serve the needs of both pupils and staff,
and was obviously inadequate. Pageant has helped in the construction
of new toilet blocks, with design assistance from
WaterAid.
With scarce water and no main drainage,
flushing toilets are impossible, so the effluent
is contained in underground chambers to
prevent contamination of the groundwater. These
pictures show the
toilets under construction, and the official
opening of the toilets is covered by this
news item
Bakalarr Nursery Class
Mr
Gitteh, headmaster of Bakalarr school decided to establish a nursery
class.
(see the pictures)
As nursery education gets no official financial support in The Gambia,
Pageant has helped with repairs, refurnishing and redecoration of the nursery classroom.
Pageant also supplied them with a selection of ride-on toys donated by Bramley Nursery School in Surrey. There are two videos clips, one
showing the nursery class in February 2004 before the redecoration, and
the other showing the children in October 2004, trying out their new toys.
(view these clips via the
clips index
page)
Staff
Accommodation
In 2008, work started on constructing living quarters for school staff who
had moved from other areas. The Staff Accommodation Block was officially
opened by Pippa in February 2009, and by April some teachers had already
taken up residence. (see
details)
Other Projects at Bakalarr
School
Bakalarr School has a number of other projects in hand
or completed. Two new
classroom blocks containing seven classrooms, the headmaster's office and
a storeroom were funded by the Scandinavian based charity
Future In Our Hands
.
Pageant helped with a
multipurpose court
for basketball, volleyball, tennis and badminton, and a concrete
play area outside the nursery classroom so the children can ride
their new tricycles.
A dedicated
home economics classroom
was financed by donations in memory of a
Pageant member, Joan Saward, who died in 2004. (see details and pictures) By February 2005
both the multipurpose court and the Home Science Lab had been completed (see
details and pictures).
For further information about all the
schools and educational institutes which Pageant is associated with
in The Gambia, please look at our
Schools Index
page.
Sika Women's Village Market
One of the most successful and long running
of the
Pageant loan schemes is a village market run by the women of Sika on the
North Bank. This was started with a Pageant loan in 2005, and is
still doing very well. Pageant has now helped with funding for a new
market place. The market is in use every morning
and all the local women have the opportunity to trade each day.
They say it has transformed their lives.
