Parent Teachers Association Annual Meeting 2012

On Sunday January 29th the annual PTA meeting was held at the office in The Gambia
Around 300 Teachers, Parents, Students, Staff and Visitors were present to hear about the Charity’s work in The Gambia during the past year.
The meeting was once more led by MC Mamadou Max Jallow and Yaya Camara (country representative), Teachers and staff spoke about the past year and thanked FoTGA for their generous efforts during the year.

There was entertainment from a Gambian group and Banjo and Guitar tunes from visiting Sponsors.
16 promising students were presented with prizes for their work during the year.

A very enjoyable day

Jeff

Brikama Nursery School Project Finished.

Hungry Gambian children at the new nursery school in Brikama

Friends of The Gambia Association are pleased to announce that the project to build a three-classroom block plus store and toilets at the Brikama Progress Nursery School is completed.

The project was made possible through a very generous funding gift by one of our members. We are all very grateful for the wonderful donation. The quality of the build is excellent with an all steel roof that will be able to withstand rainy season winds. Our builder has excelled himself and has created a building that we can all be proud of. The excellent quality of the finishing and the artistry are a sight to behold.

Brikama's new nursery school built by FOTGA

The school consists three modern classrooms accommodating up to 60 children in each class. The local population are so impressed that already there is a long waiting list of children. I must say this is the best nursery school build that I have seen in all the 20 odd years that I have been holidaying in The Gambia, and it is a credit to the UK committee and project team, and to the efforts of our team in The Gambia office, Yaya, Sukai and Fatoumatta.

The teachers and staff are over the moon with excitement to have such a facility. Big smiles of wonder all round. They are so dedicated to their job of giving the children of Brikama a sound educational start in life. And me! The success of this project is one of the highlights of my work with Friends of The Gambia Association. We have certainly proved that we can deliver, if we can only raise the funding for our next proposed project at Bakindik. Dave Smith 2011 12 27

Brufut Run

Registrations are rolling in for the 2011 Brufut Run which takes place in Brufut, The Gambia, West Africa on Saturday December 17th 2011.
      This will be the first Half Marathon (21km) to be held alongside the regular 10km run and a special Cycling event covering many areas of the country and finishing in Brufut on December 17th 2011.
The Friends of The Gambia Association is again sponsoring the event.
To enter contact martin@fotga.org.uk

Brikama nursery school Block-work Finished.

Despite the rains, the Brikama nursery school project is on schedule. The second stage build is now complete and verified by Yaya and his staff. Our project manager has given the all clear for the third stage to begin. This will be the major work of fixing the roof, doors and windows and rendering all of he plasterwork, inside and out etc
We are already thinking about furnishing the school, and making it a nice welcoming building. A place in which nursery school children will get a good start to their education: We are planning to finish the project ready for the September return to school. That is a real tough deadline, but we will do our best to meet it. The official opening will be later in the year when the donors are in The Gambia on holiday.

Just a thought!
Is there anyone out there with nursery school wall charts etc. going begging? If so please donate them to us. Please get in touch through our website. Thank you.
Dave Smith 2011 07 28

Athletes Get Registered for the Brufut Run

Friends of The Gambia Association are assisting the Brufut Marathon Run Association to make their successful annual event into a truly international sporting occasion. “THE LONDON MARATHON OF WEST AFRICA”.
It costs just £15.00 for Europeans to enter. There are 10 K races for males and females and a popular cycle race. This year for the first time the Brufut marathon association are staging their first ever half marathon. To run in any of these races would be a truly amazing experience for any European athlete. It would be very rewarding if, for your efforts, you were able to raise money by asking friends and family to sponsor you. All money raised will be donated to children’s education in The Gambia. What a fantastic cause that is!
Why not combine the occasion with a great holiday in The Gambia. The people are friendly and welcoming. The sunshine is guaranteed! And you will be assured of a tremendous welcome on race-day.
The race-day is 17th December 2011.
For more Details e-mail Martin Myers: martin@fotga.org.uk or Dave Smith: davesmithfotga@aol.com and see the Brufut Run Website:

Dave Smith 2011 07 26

 

The gift of a regular meal

Gifts of rice to sponsored children’s families. This is a wonderful donation from sponsors, particularly in he rainy season, when the worry of where the next meal is coming from really hits home. The faces in the picture say it all.

Dave Smith 2011 07 22

 

Maka Ali Sarr Nursery School

From one of the poorest areas of The Gambia comes exciting news. Maka Ali Sarr Nursery school that started out as a dream tribute by Trish to her late husband is thriving and flourishing beyond our wildest dreams.
74 children are now regularly attending and learning from the enthusiastic and dedicated staff headed by Isatou John.
After suffering from a huge storm that blew the roof off of the building and made the school un-inhabitable, Friends of The Gambia Association have rebuilt and strengthened the structure. Now the school is full of cheerful children keen to be able to learn at last.
Isatou would like to have all Makka Ali children wear uniforms like the ones in the photographs, but most local people are subsistence farmers and are so poor they could not afford to purchase uniforms.

The cost of 100 uniforms is £690.00. It would be wonderful if Friends of The Gambia could receive donations towards buying these uniforms for the school.

Sukai, now one of our very hard working and capable office staff, fought to get herself educated in this up country area, and knows personally of the struggles that poverty there brings.

Please dig deep in those pockets and help us. Thank you for taking time to read this.
David Smith 2011 07 15