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Pageant News 20 February 2009
Perhaps it is not wise to tell the Pageant
webmaster your holiday plans. My friends, June and Brian, told me
that they were going to The Gambia on holiday for the first time. In
no time at all they had volunteered to take a consignment of
textbooks. They were staying at the Atlantic Hotel. so they could
conveniently hand over the textbooks to Pippa and Ian when they
arrived later. As well as the textbooks, they also took pens, pencils, seeds,
toothbrushes etc donated by their family and friends. (see
Pageant's list of things to take)
During their stay they contacted
Wandifa,
who took them to see
Abuko Lower Basic
School.
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Here is June's account of their visit:
"It was a very interesting trip made even
more fun by the rather ancient taxi which broke down every time
the driver slowed or stopped. He then persuaded anyone hanging
around to push start the car for him! We gave him a good
tip for the entertainment!
We were given a tour of Abuko LBS by the
Deputy Head (the Headmistress was at a meeting, but we met her
later). We were greeted by the children and one class sang us a
song, when suddenly two little boys rushed out to the front, did
an impromptu dance and then rushed back to their seats after a
'look' by the teacher!
Wandifa (in red shirt) and the Deputy Head who showed us around the
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Class of 7 year old children welcoming us
with a song and impromptu dance |
Girls playing football during their games
session. They play separately from the boys. When they play
against each other, the boys have their hands tied behind their
backs! |
The children were delightful and very well
behaved. We were impressed with their ability to learn, with
sometimes three to a small desk and with different levels of ability
in each class. Also we were surprised to learn that due to the
shortage of schools the children were divided into two shifts -
morning and afternoon which meant that some teachers worked from
8.am until 6.30pm. There are still a lot of children who do not
attend school as their parents cannot afford to send them. We
learned that the Government build the schools but they rely mostly
on donations and charities to supply them with essentials. Hence
Pageant are doing an invaluable job. Everyone we met was very friendly, helpful
and proud of what was being achieved - and quite rightly so.
We were also very impressed with the
productive vegetable garden, which the children learn to cultivate
themselves - I would imagine a very necessary practical skill.
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Two younger children
belonging to one of the teachers who accompany her to school and
amuse themselves while she teaches. |
Our taxi at the school
which refused to start and the children had to bump start us |
We also did the 'Roots' trip which involved a
boat ride upriver for 2 hours to the home village of Kunta Kinte,
the ancestor of the writer of the book, Alex Hailey. Having read the
book and seen the film, I found
this really interesting - we met the present day descendents and
visited the island where the slaves were taken to be collected by
the boats. A real eye-opener and a fascinating day.
Other than a visit to the market (a sensory
'sensation'!), we mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine and being
waited upon, whilst appreciating our good fortune on being able to
do so. It truly is a very poor country and as usual, it is the
children who suffer most - but Pageant are doing a sterling job
helping with their schools and schooling and I'm sure in other ways
too.
We met Pippa, Ian and their group 2 days
before we left, and although we had a few quick chats, their feet
hardly touched the ground as they whizzed around doing their
deliveries etc. Their commitment is obvious and commendable as is
all the work done by those people in the background."
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