Harvest Donation 10/23/2010
 
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Berkswell Church of England Primary School held their annual Harvest Service at St John the Baptist Church, Berkswell, and this year's chosen Harvest charity was The African Oyster Trust.

Alan Dick attended the church service as a representative of the Trust to receive envelopes of donations given by parents and pupils of the school.  The money will go to help equip the new Hilary Emery Nursery School in Talinding.

Mrs Drew, Headteacher said: “It seemed such a fitting idea for us to support the African Oyster Trust by helping them to equip their new nursery, as we have just been lucky enough to acquire our own brand new Early Years building.”

In photograph left to right:  Rev Mark Bratton (Rector St John the Baptist, Berkswell), Ellie (pupil), Mrs Tracy Drew (Headteacher), Imogen (pupil), Alan Dick (African Oyster Trust)

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Report by Trust supporters Nick and Lynn Torry

We were delighted to see the report in the Gambia Daily Observer about Kira handing over thousands of dalasis’ worth of medical supplies to the Community Health Centre in Jappineh.

It brought back happy memories of our visit to the Centre in January with Kira and James when they laid the foundation stones for the compound walls of the Centre.  Hundreds of newly made bricks were ready for the ceremony at which the Imam of Jappineh and James made moving speeches on this auspicious occasion.
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The previous day we had made a memorable nine hour journey by boat from Bintang Bolong to Soma with Kira and James, and that morning we had travelled by taxi to Jappineh, and met the elders of the village, who had received books and mathematical equipment for the school provided by the African Oyster Trust.   We had seen the excitement of the children in the Baduma Nursery School when Fanding had presented them each with a cuddly toy provided by the Trust.  Later in the afternoon we were privileged to attend a meeting of the Jappineh Youth Development Committee, when they outlined their ambitious vision for the Community Health Centre.

During our fortnight’s visit to The Gambia we also visited the two other projects supported by the African Oyster Trust:  the Kuntah Kinteh Nursery School in Serekunda and Mariama’s Nursery School in Gunjur.

We really enjoyed visiting the Kuntah Kinteh Nursery School.  It was such a happy place.  We watched the tasty, nutritious meal of fish and rice being prepared on the premises and helped serve the meal to the eager children in their classrooms – after they had first washed their hands carefully.  In the clean, shady, well-equipped classrooms the children worked purposefully and quietly and were keen to share their work with us.  In the playground they shared the play equipment well and were learning gradually to take turns in having a go on the slide.  It was noticeable how much respect and affection Kira inspired both in the children and in the teaching and ancillary staff.    The whole school is a credit to Kira and Fanding for founding it and to the Oyster Trust for funding it so well.  Let’s hope the extra classroom will be ready soon.
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James had prepared himself well for the visit to Gunjur School.  We had walked into the village from the Footsteps Ecolodge with him the day before, when he chose some pieces of material from the local shops, which a local tailor made into suits in the local style overnight.

He then looked appropriately smart for the ceremony which took place when Kira cut the tape across the door leading into the school’s clinic, which she had recently stocked with medical supplies for the trained medical staff to use for any of the 2000 children in the school who needed them.  We enjoyed visiting Mariama’s Nursery School and also some of the classrooms in the main school, particularly the one where Mariama, now ten years old, was being taught.
       
We had never been to The Gambia before and it turned out to be a wonderfully interesting, enjoyable visit.  Everyone we met was cheerful and helpful and always made us feel welcome.  For James’ sake we did manage a bit of bird-watching too, exploring our local ‘patch’ at Gunjur thoroughly and even braving the shallow waters of the Allelein River in a pirang.

Thank you James and Kira for welcoming us to your magnificent projects and long may the children who benefit from your efforts continue to prosper.
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We are delighted to report that the nursery school in Talinding opened on time in September, and is already proving a huge hit with children and teachers alike.

Under its new name of the Hilary Emery Nursery School, all three classrooms are open, albeit with more equipment and furniture to follow. The playground outside is an absolutely massive improvement on what was available to the children before, giving them somewhere safe to play and condusive to learn.

A huge thanks to everyone who helped with work on this project - more details on the supporters and the background of this project can he found on the main HENS page here.

Pictured is of course our own Kira Dalton with some of the children as the new school opened.
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The African Oyster Trust's AGM will take place on Saturday 23rd October at 4pm at the offices of Leader Communications in Henley-in-Arden.


All supporters, donors and interested parties are welcome to attend. We would be grateful if you could let us know if you intend to attend - please send us a message via the Contact Us page.
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There's been plenty of progress to report over the last month on our newest project at Talinding.

The roof is already nearly done, the doors and windows are in, toilets are built and all of the classrooms have been plastered.

To find out why this project is so important to the children of Talingding, click here.

To make a donation and support this work, click here.
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The trust team in The Gambia, led as ever by Kira Dalton, has embarked on another exciting project - this time building a completely new three-classroom nursery school and compound for children in Talinding.

The facility is badly needed; when Kira first visited the existing JTT Nursery School she found 134 children aged from 3 to 7 years crammed into a single room with no space for proper teaching or play activities.

Read the full report here, and please do stop to think whether you can make a donation to the project (our donation page, including online facilities, is here).

Every new project we undertake makes a world of difference to the lives of these young children, but we are only a small charity and every intervention  depends on the goodwill and support of our individual and corporate donors. We are grateful to each and every one.
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The founder of Mariama Mae Pre-School in Gunjur, Ali Calvert, has posted a report on progress at the school, as well as plenty of new photos. Click here to see the latest from this wonderful project.
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by Trudy Andrews, Volunteer

This spring, as Ali was unable to get away, I went with my daughter Kate to visit Mariama Mae Pre-School in Gunjur. Well, we just managed to get everything on the list done in one week.

We found the school running well; the children happy and developing; and the resources being used creatively. The teachers were pleased to see us too. They had lots to tell us: all had attended a workshop by visitors from Concern Universal; a new teacher for class 2 was being tried out; and a 2 day curriculum workshop was being held in the village on Saturday and Sunday, which Kate and myself joined for a morning and found many very committed teachers who had given up days off to improve their skills and the education of pre-school children in Gunjur.

Kate managed to cover the well-used books of the reading scheme: you sure can tell which stories are the children's favourites; Milika's Bath and The River.

I was impressed by the progress that the year 3 children had made having had only one year of education since the school opened. I am sure that with their new teacher they will be ready to move on to Lower Basic in September.

One task I had set myself was to make an easel so that a local carpenter could follow the pattern and produce some more. I was successful, but had to adapt the pattern to the available wood. It was tested and worked well with the donated paint pots, brushes and wallpaper – now all we need are some aprons.

I enjoyed living within the community of Gunjur and love seeing the enthusiasm that all the children have for education, and for life in general.

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Royal Spa Brass is holding a Heroes and Villains family concert at All Saints Church, Leamington Spa, on Saturday 8th May, with all proceeds going to the African Oyster Trust.

This is a great opportunity to support our work in Africa while enjoying a fun night out, so please put the date in your diary. The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are priced £7 (£3 concessions). Visit www.royalspabrass.com for more details.

Thank you to Iain Masson and everyone at Royal Spa Brass for their wonderful support.
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By Katy, a supporter

What a pleasure it was to visit The Gambia for the first time, primarily to see the Mariama Mae Pre-School in Gunjur.

In a corner of what we would call a very large primary school, within the branches of two Baoba trees, lay a Gambia pre-school. You can see that this pre-school has been carefully planned and resourced with Gambian children aged four to seven years in mind.

There are two buildings. The first is divided into class one and class two, and also includes an office and two storage rooms. Class three for the older children is in a separate building across the yard. In between is a building decorated with colour paintings of flowers and containing two porcelain toilets. The classrooms are situated on a perfect sized plot which allows the children freedom at play time; it has shade from a mango tree and a raised seating area around which is a mosaic of broken tiles for decoration. New to the playground is a large sand pit, a guaranteed hit with children world wide.

On entering the preschool I find the atmosphere welcoming, and notice the 'preschool buzz' straight away. I feel happy here and I can tell that the children are happy to be at school. They have the correct attitude to assist learning through play and discovery.

Work and projects decorate the rooms from all angles. The resources in the classroom have been carefully chosen and reflect their nationality. Book shelves with reading schemes focused around African life and story books about African animals and people.

The principle teacher is a friendly, warm and approachable lady who has chosen her team well and seems to effortlessly run the school in a calm manner.

Congratulations to everybody involved in making Mariama Mae Pre-School such a wonderful example of a Gambian pre-school. I am sure this school, if not already, will become a model for other developing pre-schools in The Gambia, and I am privelleged to have seen it in action and I am happy to support this school.

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