A SCHOOL WITH A DIFFERENCE
Name: Geof Prigge Nursery School
www.globalhandscharity.com
Location: Serakundanding Village near Brikama The Gambia West Africa
In August of 2005 a school was named in my honour, simply by making an effort the previous year during my stay in this West African country, to teach the students of the area a bit about Australia. On my return to my home a few months later, I sent them a box of educational material (mostly books) and I discovered that none of the villagers had ever seen so many books in one place in all their lives. This made them decide to call their existing school after me. Previously it had no name at all.
I’ve just completed a three month stint back in The Gambia assisting the local community to extend the building and make some fundamental changes to the education of those 115 students who are lucky enough to call this their school.
When I arrived, the building was rather drab, a little neglected, but with no money available even for books and pens, it’s no wonder that the school was in need of a face-lift. It consisted of four rooms, two of which were classrooms and the others, a staff room and a craft room.
We started by purchasing the necessary items that a school needs even in rural Africa. Items like stationery, information on health and hygiene, an extensive medical kit, clean water containers and lots of games were purchased immediately. We also removed a single panel of corrugated iron from each of the four rooms and replaced these with corrugated plastic, thus enabling natural light to enter the rooms and alleviating the need for solar lighting. The effect was amazing. The kids could now see what they were doing. That was the first month.
Then came the extensions to the existing building. We built a new room measuring 7 metres X 7 metres, the biggest room now in the school, added to the eastern side. It became a kitchen. With two cooking areas and enough space for the kids to eat in two sittings, it is large and open and airy. The walls are predominantly mozzie screens allowing lots of ventilation, something unheard of in traditional building in West Africa. Also new was our method of bagging the concrete instead of rendering. This not only saved concrete (and therefore money), but it also looked better, the rough finish approved by all.
Next on the agenda was a craft room at the other end of the school, the western end. Measuring 7 metres X 4 metres, it replaced the existing tiny craft room where only 10 students could be at any one time. That room was converted to a library.
One very positive fact worth mentioning is that the mothers of some of the children began making cushions and pillows (before the craft room was even finished), and their first customer purchased 40 pillows for his hotel, bringing in a phenomenal profit, covering all costs and enabling us to buy a sewing machine and still have money left over. As well, a craft stall was offered by the owners of Makasutu, a nearby eco-resort, and two of the ladies started a stall there. One day during that second month, I took all the students to Makasutu. It was one of those memorable days in education which involved a huge overland 4WD to transport them in several loads, a wander through a craft market to see how things are produced - pottery in the kiln, weaving and so on, then a walk through the forest followed by a canoe trip on the river. To see over a hundred little African smiles and hear them sing as they gently paddled through the mangroves was a wonderful memory for me…and great for the kids and teachers too.
During that second month, we also measured out two areas in the scrub beside the school, performed the necessary clearing and started a farm with more than fifty separate plots, and a separate playing field beside the farm. Two students and a nominated parent had the responsibility for each plot in which is now growing an assortment of herbs and vegetables. Now remember that these kids are young. They are learning new tricks that other kids in Africa are unable to. The students are aged from 2 to 8 years. From here they go on to Primary School, and it is hoped that the education they receive here will put them in a better position to excel at the next level.
They have two composting areas used on a rotational basis, and all water is currently carried from the nearby well by hand. We are currently looking into ways of using solar panels to enable us to draw water and irrigate easier.
This is now a unique little school in a dry and dusty corner of West Africa. It’s an area though where there is so much potential. Tourism is bringing in people in large numbers, and although they often pay for their holidays before they leave home, giving little help to the locals, that is changing. More and more companies are becoming responsible and are involving local communities in everything they do. The future for these kids is therefore brighter than ever before in the history of The Gambia. Remember that it only gained independence in 1965. Prior to that, it was a British colony with a sad history of over a hundred years of subjugation and neglect.
We are now moving on to Stage 2 and we are ahead of schedule, something of a surprise for most people who see much of Africa as slow-moving and un-progressive, where people - due to a lack of stimulus - lay about in a constant state of lethargy. The community of Serakundanding is different. They want their children to benefit from what the future can offer.
The agenda for the near future involves developing the existing business of cushion and pillow production from the soon-to-be-completed craft room, and also the start of another new idea out of the kitchen. The villagers, with the help of the students, plan to start making orange juice, which in their village and the nearby town of Brikama, is non-existent. Who knows where that may lead! There are orange trees everywhere throughout much of Africa and The Gambia is no exception. The school also plans to plant over a hundred various juvenile citrus trees this month and a new variety of mango tree shortly after.
The school motto is ‘Let Your Light Shine’, and I think all who visit the school will agree that the students and teachers are doing exactly that.
The students, teachers and villagers would like to thank all those who have helped with various contributions.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the school can contact me direct at:
geofprigge@yahoo.com.au
