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Thursday 24 November
- Bakalarr Basic Cycle School
Helping Bakalarr Basic Cycle School was
Pageant 's first project, and we have had a close association with
the school and village since 2000. Read more about our
Bakalarr
projects.
The alarm went off at 5.15 am again - once
more so that we could get down to the docks in time for the first
ferry. Another early breakfast, packing all done the night before,
the taxi was CERTAIN to collect us at 6.15am as arranged. Surely,
this time all would go to plan.... but no... we arrived at the dock in
the taxi to find a very long queue... we waited... the ferry arrived...
and we missed getting on it by one car! Bother, we said - or words
to that effect!
The second (slower) ferry
arrived eventually and we were on it immediately, right at the
front, in the centre. This is quite an experience on this ferry as
there is not much between the car and the water. Also, the next
vehicles are brought on very quickly and packed up right beside you
on both sides - Sandra and I hopped out very quickly and made our
way up the steps to the seats on top deck. Kemo
was chatting and missed his chance, so he had to spend the crossing
in the car - not a happy chappy!
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arriving at Barra |
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people boarding at
Banjul |
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On arriving in Barra we rejoined the car
and set off to find Ousman. We stopped beside the café at which we
were going to meet him (an hour earlier) - no Ousman. Kemo then ran
about in the fields asking various people if they knew where he
lived - no luck, so we left a message for him.
So, off to Bakalarr, the school that we
have visited so often now that it feels like coming home. We
arrived to a huge welcoming crowd - I had warned Sandra but she
was absolutely amazed. Then to a personal welcome by Bakery
Gitteh, the headmaster (who had stayed with us the previous
summer). As always, this was followed by a Bakalarr breakfast -
I had warned Sandra not to eat too much at the hotel, and she
soon understood why. Absolutely delicious... |
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our Bakalarr breakfast |
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Then, like a Genie from the lamp, Ousman
appeared out of nowhere... he had got our message and had come to find
us, but could not stay as he had classes at Essau in the afternoon.
We gave him the pack of charcoal pencils and some gouache paints
that had been sent to him by Kathy and arranged to meet him at Essau
on the following Sunday. We said we would take him with us to the
café at Juffreh and then on to Bakary Gitteh's compound to which we
had been invited. Ousman was delighted at all this - he had
travelled about 5Km to find us (how?), spent about 15 minutes
talking to us and was now going to travel 5Km back to school (how?),
but he was still all smiles. Such a very nice young man...
We then began on the Official Programme of
Events, held under the big, shady trees;
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An official welcome from Bakary Gitteh
and introductions to all the village elders and staff.
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Two anthems (Gambian and British) sung
by the children - really moving, I always want to cry.
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Several speeches (one from Pippa),
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Lots of dancing - ladies, children ...
and us, too
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the crowd at Bakalarr |
Sandra Dancing |
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Lunch - more delicious
Gambian food - benechin and domada this time, served to us again
in Bakary's office. Lunch was also served to the whole gathering,
which took some time...Then, we were collected from Bakary's
office by a Scout guard of honour and escorted back to the
shade under the trees for the rest of the programme;
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A special song written for us
by the Bakalarr music teacher. The song is sung in verses by the
whole school; at the end of each verse they then hum a refrain
while the head boy says the words over the humming; then they sing
again, and so on. They make a wonderful sound - very
back-of-the-neck-tingling...
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The special song being performed |
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Presentation of the gifts we
had brought with us and some that had come in the earlier
container. This is always one of the most popular events - the
highlights this time were:
School uniform donated by Cransley School in Cheshire (see
their website)
PG Tips to the dinner ladies, always well received
A guitar donated by a student at Christ's Hospital to the music
department (CH
website)
A boxful of high quality pens, suitable to be used as prizes for
achievement
Basketballs and footballs
Seeds for the school and 5 lots of village gardens
And, possibly the biggest cheer, swirly skirts for the dancing
ladies
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children with uniforms
donated by Cransley school |
PG Tips for the dinner
ladies |
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guitar donated by a
student at Christ's Hospital |
Pippa handing over a box
of high quality pens |
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presenting basketballs
and footballs |
seeds for the school garden |
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a new skirt for the
chief dancing lady |
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Opening of new library - this is a most impressive result of a
project that has been completed within a year. The library was
completed between February and November 2005, using one of the
older classrooms that was upgraded in a similar manner to the Home
Science Lab. They have lined the walls with sturdy wooden
bookshelves, sealed the floor and ceiling against the sand and put
in louvred windows similar to those in the Home Science lab. The
bookshelves and two rows of benches and tables for the students
using the library have all been built by a local tradesman. A
couple of staff members have been chosen as librarians and two
book monitors have been selected from each form. Bakary is very
pleased with the result.
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the Bakalarr library |
foundations and concrete
blocks
for the new building |
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Laying foundation stone for
new building - this building, comprising three new classrooms and
a staffroom, is the most ambitious project that Pageant has
undertaken at Bakalarr. We have funded half of the estimated cost
so far and are hoping that support from two of the Banjul rally
teams (Super
Trooper from UK and
Delft Dustbusters
from Holland) will enable us to finish it next year. (Sandra and I
had run out of film/battery power by this time of the day, so we
were left with Kemo's 35mm camera. He obligingly took several
photos - but then managed to drop his camera in the soup on
returning to his compound, the back of the camera opened.... just
another Gambian experience!! So, our thanks to Super Trooper for
photos of items 8 & 9)
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We left Bakalarr quite late at the end of
a wonderful day, and returned to the hotel via the ferry, crossing
the river in the dark for the first time ever. On arrival at the
Atlantic, Sandra and I, hot and dirty, slunk out into the darkness of
the pool bar where we could sit in obscurity and have a couple of Julbrews - fantastic! AND our delightful waitress, Fatou, cooked us
a special grilled ladyfish each - what service - it is days like
this that make it such a tremendously satisfying adventure.
<< Fatou - our waitress at the Atlantic |
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