Thank You

You have been very kind. Thank you for sending footballs, tennis balls, football strips, children’s books, exercise books, stationery, soft toys… Thank you also to those who have carried these gifts out here in their holiday baggage, especially to Rosamund, Vanessa, Stephanie, Roger, Rachel and Caroline; without you, none of it would have arrived.

 

Over the last few months  have distributed your gifts to families and villages here, and I can now relate back to you the most deeply expressed and sincere thanks from grateful recipients. You would not believe how excited and pleased a child can be, even to receive an exercise book and a pencil.

 

Thanks to the generosity of Beauchamps High School, Largs United FC and Frimley Green FC, I have supplied five different teams with a full set of shirts (and two other strips were sent to teams in Kibera in Nairobi). Football has a high profile here; Gambians follow European football with interest, but are also intensely proud of their village side. Many teams cannot afford kit, and play in an assortment of shirts of approximately similar colours. In one village, the elders had been trying for months to raise funds to buy some simple t-shirts for their team before the start of the season. When they heard that they could have real football shirts, all the same colour, with numbers and a team badge and crest, they were overwhelmed. No exaggeration, grown men cried. For the record, these shirts have gone to teams in Bwiam (2), Tallinding, Jarreng and Albreda.

 

       

 

       

 

A resourceful teacher friend back home, Ruth, donated a large number of confiscated footballs. Apparently students had until the end of term to collect their property, and after that these balls were sent to me. I admire the initiative of this scheme. These are good quality leather footballs. It is striking that a second-hand item that a schoolchild can lose and not miss enough to reclaim, is so gratefully received by schools or village teams here, and will probably be cherished as the best ball, reserved for matches only. Also, Great Baddow Recreation Ground Tennis Club sent me a large bag of tennis balls. Children have loved using these tennis balls for street football, or just for throwing and catching. In one compound some boys were given a tennis ball and they immediately went off to find two short planks of wood, and began an improvised game of tennis on the hardened mud surface inside their compound.

 

       

 

I have enjoyed distributing reading books for children, and in some cases I have been able to read with children, or have children read to me. The general standard of reading is poor and is a major reason for lack of success in public examinations. In a recent survey of reading abilities, the median score (in terms of words recognised) of every class in the survey was zero words. This was in a large sample including schools from around the whole country. That will give you an idea of the scale of the task facing us. The department of state for education has called for a renewed emphasis on the teaching of phonics and has organised workshops and training, but there is still a long way to go. Many families simply do not have books, and there is no tradition of reading together. There are very few books or publications available in the local languages, or written by Gambian authors. Literacy levels are generally low, especially amongst women. This makes formal education difficult. So, thank you to all who have sent books. Please continue to support Book Aid, or other similar charities (but do not send them out-of-date rubbish!).

 

       

 

Toys are a luxury that some families cannot afford or do not prioritise, and children play creatively with whatever they can get their hands on. I have been interested to watch the reaction of some children to receiving a cuddly toy for the first time. Younger toddlers and babies seemed to accept and welcome the new arrival. But more than once I have witnessed 3- and 4-year olds become extremely wary, even fearful, of a stuffed toy, and especially of an animated glove puppet. In general, animals here are not petted or considered cute. Most animals a child encounters will either be dangerous, or is destined for the cooking pot, and it is not worth forming an attachment in either case.

 

My thanks also for those who have sent me money. In the main, you have supported two projects. First, some kind individuals helped me support a friend, Sohna, to continue her college course when her previous donor moved away. Sohna has completed the year with excellent grades, and is now contemplating whether she will continue for the third and final year of the course, or whether she should go to work to support her family.

 

 

 

Other donations were sent to help another friend, Ebrima, to refurbish his well. At first we looked into the installation of a pump and a storage tank. But in the end the solution that seemed most realistic and helpful was simply to dig out the well, remove silt and rubbish, and renovate and seal the concrete tube. Workers excavated two metres of sand from inside the well, and a range of items of rubbish that had been dropped inside. They also dug around the exterior of the well to fill holes. I am told that the well was in poor condition, having benefited from little maintenance in the last fifteen years. Ebrima tells me he was shocked at how many holes were in the well, and he believes the whole structure might have collapsed during this year’s rains, without the work done this year. The other issue with holes is that they allow waste water and foul water to drain into the drinking water inside the well, which of course contributes to disease. Those who donated to this project can be assured that their donations have made a real difference to people’s wellbeing and health; Ebrima’s well is used not just by his won family, but also by many others in his neighbourhood. You also paid for a metal cover for the well so that it can be locked at night, which should prevent rubbish being thrown in. The cover was locally made in a workshop from metal struts, and a panel formed by beating flat the side of an oil drum.

 

       

 

So thank you for sending me these things. You have enabled me to enjoy a very privileged role as distributor of these gifts. Let us continue to share what we have with those who have less.