GLOBAL HANDS
I am writing these notes to raise awareness for a project I’ve been involved with in The Gambia West Africa from where I’ve just returned. In August 2005 a school was named in my honour simply from making the effort of addressing the children in a small regional school and telling them about Australia. A few months later I sent them a package of books and other educational material and I later found out that this was more books than any member of the village had seen in one place in their lives. Because of my Aussie generosity, small though it was, the village elders decided to call their new school after me. When I returned to The Gambia, I felt obliged to become more involved.
What we have now, after working on the school most of last year (2006), is considered a fine example of a children’s school in West Africa. We’ve extended the school buildings to include a library, craft room, kitchen, playing areas including a football field and we’ve cleared land sufficient enough to establish a farm. We grow fruits like bananas, mangoes and oranges and lots of vegetables and herbs.
What we do is more than help the kids learn in the conventional way from books and good example. We also teach them to grow crops and to help feed the local villagers, their families. We teach them about trading, bartering their excess to obtain other items necessary for their survival. We teach them how to play and not just footy. Our football field is used for soccer, running races, even Frisbee and bowling. What we’ve developed with a bit of Aussie ingenuity is something quite unique from the dustbowl of this part of West Africa. We even took the kids out on the water which for many of them was a first.
I’m back in Australia to establish a charity and raise funds. Already we’ve broadened our horizons and have a project up and running in Nepal at The Destitute Children’s Home and we hope that before long we’ll be doing a lot more. We’ll be calling ourselves Global Hands and would like to direct you to our website www.globalhandscharity.com so that you can read more about our efforts in what will soon be Australia’s newest charity. I’m writing here on the World Nomads website because we need help and I thought you, the reader, might like involvement in something unique and highly rewarding. We need sponsors and ideas. It’s as simple as that. We want to raise awareness and therefore funds for what we’re doing. Global Hands will be a hands-on charity. We don’t plan to give fish, but instead teach people how to fish. World Nomads has helped considerably. Go to http://footprints.worldnomads.com/default.aspx?c=10&x1=8 to find out how.
My email address is geofprigge@yahoo.com.au and my other website is at www.geofprigge.com
My life has changed from 2004 when I sold my aerial photography business in Sydney and hit the road, but the lives of my 115 little students in The Gambia have changed much more. Because we are now such a fine example of schooling in the area, others want and deserve assistance. With the help of people like you we may be able to achieve a lot more than any of us ever dreamed. Please help if you can.
Geof Prigge.
