Supported Projects - recent achievements

The Gambian government provides almost free schooling for pupils from the ages of  5 - 11 - but the youngsters and their families still need help with staionery and items like school lunches and uniforms. From age 11, school fees are charged, and pupils have to pay for their own books, equipment etc.

Sohm is a small village, consisting mainly of poorly educated, subsistence, farmers and their families. But they are proud people and desperate to get their young people an education.  This is where we come in - trying to help.

Educational posters supplied for every classroom in the schools

So far, we have:

• arranged for the sponsorship of a dozen pupils, paying their education and some related social costs;
• established a Book Fund, so that all older students have access to key textbooks for all subjects studied;
• encouraged a school twinning project between the Lower Basic school, and Derwentwater Primary school in Acton, London;
• provided teacher training support in English, sports development and child protection for both schools;
• supplied a limited number of laptops, to help with ICT teaching and school administration;
• paid for a school trip for all 150 years 5 and 6 pupils, getting many of them out of the village for the first time in their lives, to visit their capital city, airport, zoo, ancient monuments and Atlantic coast;
• arranged a whole day visit by 50 volunteers from British charity, Football Gambia, to offer sports training for all the village's children, and donate 40 football kits and associated play equipment;
• donated enough educational posters for at least one to be displayed in every classroom;, in each of the schools
• created a Bike Fund, to provide money to repair the bikes of students riding many miles each day, on untarmaced roads, to and from school.

• Introduction - about us
• Supported Projects - recent achievements
• Sohm - where we're at