PAGEANT - "Education is the future"
The Story of Pageant Projects
Everything you need to know about Pageant
All the things you need to know about Pageant are somewhere on our site. Information about our projects is in sections on this page and in subsidiary pages, and you can always look at Frequently Asked Question
What we do and how we do it
Pageant came into existence after a holiday in The Gambia in 2001 by Pippa and Ian Howard. They met a hotel guide who took them to the village of Bakalarr, on the north bank of the Gambia River, to visit a school. (More about the first visit) After their return to the UK, Ian and Pippa began to send materials and equipment to Bakalarr school, and Pageant was established as a UK Charity in 2002, specifically to support education and related projects in The Gambia.
Pageant's work still focuses on education, but we have expanded our activities to include workshops for teachers, help with local village enterprises and action to defeat that scourge of tropical countries - malaria.
Pageant is run entirely by volunteers - our members. Members pay an annual membership fee which covers our administrative costs. None of us get paid for our work, and we don't claim personal expenses. This means that every penny from fundraising events or given to us as a donation is used for our projects in The Gambia. Where Gambian people need financial assistance for the education of their children, we pay the money directly to the family who needs it.
Our Gambian agents (see below) ensure that an assisted student's family uses the sponsorship money for their education and that all fees, book charges etc are paid in the correct manner to the school. If we need to buy things, we try to spend money in The Gambia, rather than here. This avoids shipping costs, and encourages the local economy. The Gambia is a very poor country, so costs and wages are low. All of this means that Pageant's method of operating is extremely efficient, and even a small donation can do an awful lot.
Pippa, Ian and other Pageant members travel to The Gambia regularly, usually in the ‘winter season’ months between October and April, when they visit schools and sponsored students, and check on the progress of various projects. Our work in The Gambia is thus very much hands-on. We are not simply pumping aid into a black hole. In between times our marvellous agents looks after things and keep in touch with us by email.
New and Recently Launched Projects
In this section, we highlight some of our recently launched projects, which you might not have heard about yet:
Carol Grace's Half Marathon
Pageant members Carol and Richard Grace are regular visitors to The Gambia. After several years helping us there, they have decided to launch their own Pageant project. Actual details will be finalised later this year, but Carol has already decided to start fundraising for the project, with a target of £500. She has entered for a half marathon at Donnington Park on Sunday 15th November. You can see more on Carol's fundraising page, where you will find a link to make a donation.
Jo Conlon's Marathon
Jo Conlon, a Sussex based artist and designer, was overwhelmed by the generosity, warmth and kindness of everyone she met while on holiday in The Gambia early in 2015. During her trip, while on a visit to a local school, she noticed how keen the children were to learn. Jo decided she would like to help, and her researches led her to Pageant. She decided to raise money for us, and has entered in the 2016 Brighton Marathon. You can follow news about her fundraising and training on Jo's fundraising page, where you will find a link to make a donation.
Catherine Marriott's fundraising for Albreda LBS
Albreda is a historic town on the north bank of The Gambia River. When Pageant first visited its Lower Basic School, in 2014, the school buildings were in a bad state of repair. One classroom block was roofless and in ruins, the school kitchen was dilapidated and the toilet facilities were inadequate. Since that first visit, Pageant has built a new toilet block and helped to build a new kitchen. The school was working a two shift system to cope with increasing numbers of pupils, so rebuilding the ruined classroom block was also an urgent priority. Pageant has already helped to build a new kitchen and also a new toilet block. Catherine Marriott visited the school in January 2015, and decided to start fundraising for the estimated £2000 needed to re-build the ruined classroom block. Work has already started but Catherine is still fundraising to get the work finished. Please have a look at our Albreda page for updates on the progress of the building work, and if possible make a donation to ensure that the work is completed.
Pageant's agents and other people in The Gambia
Pageant could not function without the dedicated work of our agents in The Gambia:
- Wandifa Saidykhan is Pageant's main agent in The Gambia and does an enormous amount of work with both school projects and sponsored children. He also still works as a tourist guide at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul when he has any spare time. He became Pageant's assistant agent in 2002 and stepped up to the main role in 2007.
- Yankuba Ceesay is Pageant's assistant agent in The Gambia. He helps Wandifa cope with the increasing load of work connected with the sponsored children and has special responsibility for the up-country regions on the South Bank such as Jarreng, and collecting reports at the end of the summer term.
- Abdoulie Gibba is now the regular driver for Pageant and has made himself so useful that he is now warmly welcomed as a full member of the Pageant team. He is now responsible for students grouped to the South West of The Gambia, in Siffoe, Gunjur, Jambanjelly and Banyaka.
- Momodou Kanteh is a part time assistant agent for Siffoe, helping with unloading containers, occasional driving and other things.
Kemo Ceesay was Pageant's first agent in The Gambia, from 2001 until he left Pageant in 2007. Pageant also has several lady 'go-betweens' who run the Pageant loan schemes.
- Mariama Gitteh runs the loan schemes for Sika and Bakalarr
- Mai Baldeh runs the loan scheme for the Jambanjelly Women's Union group
- Tombong Susso runs the loan scheme for the Kanteh Kunda women's group in Siffoe
- Nurse Saidykhan runs the Kanikunda 'Sarrkunda Kafoo' Group
- Fatou Jammeh runs the Diamond women's group in Brikama
Pageant member Linda Murgatroyd lives and works in The Gambia. She has been Pageant's UK representative in The Gambia since 2007. Pageant has been able to help with projects in schools where Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) work, as Linda has worked for the Peace Corps during her time in The Gambia and maintains links with the PCVs. (more about Peace Corps Volunteers)
Where we work
Bakalarr was originally the main focus of Pageant's activities, but we have slowly expanded our work to include schools in other areas, especially away from the tourist strip near the coast. 'Up River' villages are easier to reach than they used to be, as the main roads both north and south of the river have been considerably improved since we started our charity. For instance, a journey of some 120 miles to Jarreng used to take most of the day, with overnight accommodation being essential, but now the return trip can be accomplished in one (long!) day.
Our projects are listed in a series of linked pages listed below, which also includes the topic of fundraising. Without your kind donations and innovative fundraising efforts, Pageant could achieve very little. There are also links to these pages in Menu 2.
The spelling of Gambian place names varies, and many have entirely different alternative names. We have used what we believe to be the most commonly used versions. Other versions are listed as aka: Just for the record, Banjul was once called Bathurst!
Pageant Projects - Associated Pages
- Fundraising - Some of the ways Pageant raises money - sponsored challenges, ethical gifts, fêtes, carnivals, raffles, donations - including how schools in the UK have raised money in innovative ways
- General Projects - Sending things to The Gambia, visits to Gambian schools, sponsoring children, Pageant Loans, The Artemisia Project, Tina's art project.
- Pageant projects in Bakalarr and the North Bank - Pageant has been helping Bakalarr Basic Cycle School since 2001, with new classroom floors, a kitchen, toilets, boundary wall, vegetable gardens, a home economics classroom, a multipurpose sports court and help with starting a nursery class. Other major projects in the North Bank Division include Sika Village Market, Barra-Essau UBS, Jurunku LBS and Albreda Lower Basic School.
- Pageant projects in Banjul and West Coast Region - Pageant is helping many schools in the Banjul and Serrekunda area, ranging from Nursery Schools to Senior Secondary Schools, Skills Centres, and Further Education Colleges.
- Pageant projects in upcountry villages and the South - This page covers Pageant projects in villages and schools other than Bakalarr, the North Bank, Banjul and West Coast Region.
- Pageant workshops for Gambian teachers - Since 2006, Pageant has been running Science Workshops for Gambian teachers, with specially developed science teaching kits which can be used in schools without mains electricity or running water. We also run Microscopy Workshops to show teachers how to get the most benefit from microscopes, which they take with them to their schools. Science and Microscopy Workshops are now run concurrently as an annual event.
- Gambian Schools Index - We have produced an index of Gambian schools which Pageant is associated with. It includes those with major projects as detailed in the Projects pages, and those which just have sponsored pupils. The Google Maps listed below show the exact location of many of these schools. Make sure you select the 'Satellite' view, and in many cases you can zoom in to see the actual buildings. Please let us know if we have got anything wrong.
- Information Page - More information about Pageant, and how you can help us.
- The Blog - We have many regular readers in The Gambia, both of this website and the Pageant News Blog. We have a team in both the UK and in The Gambia who make contributions to the Blog. Pageant members visiting The Gambia, particularly if they are involved in our workshops for Gambian teachers, are encouraged to post news of their trip on our blog. We copy blog postings to web pages, to form structured archives of these events.