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February 2012
Visit to The Gambia by teachers from Holy Cross Primary, Manadon Vale Primary and Woodfield Primary Schools
March 2011
Visit by Buba Sibi the Headteacher of Kafuta School linked with Manadon Vale - see visits for his perceptions of Plymouth and the UK
Leah Burch and 25 children from Holy Cross Primary were invited to meet the Pope during his visit to London.
September 2010 - Audience with the Pope!!
Audience with the Pope Report
May 2010
The Headteachers from St. John Vianney Basic School and Faraba Banta Basic School visited Plymouth to work with their partner schools Holy Cross Catholic Primary and Woodfield Primary. This was their first visit outside The Gambia and they were intrigued by many new experiences including the London underground! They met with other schools interested in forming links, attended meetings and took part in the GLEN (Global Education) conference. They returned to The Gambia with plans for future projects with their partner schools and some useful resources including a solar panel!!
Dawda Faye, International Coordinator for schools in The Gambia, visited Plymouth to meet the schools involved in the link. He stayed with local Headteachers and teachers and visited every school answering questions from the pupils and talking about life in The Gambia.
He also met with other schools wishing to set up links and 5 further partnerships are now in place.
Autumn 2009
Leah Burch, a teacher at Holy Cross Primary School, has been collecting sports equipment and educational materials for children in The Gambia.
Leah, who is a member of Plymstock Road Runners Club, appealed for other members to donate equipment including trainers, basketballs and other sports equipment. She said she recently travelled to The Gambia to visit the John Vianney School, Holy Cross's link school, with children aged between five and 18. "While I was there I did some teaching and some professional development," she said. "I was so shocked by how little they had in the school. I came back with the goal that I was going to send a 40 foot container with sports and educational equipment by the end of the year. The children there really love football but they're playing with no shoes and no kit."
She approached the road running club for trainers and said she received boxes of them from the members and from children in the club's junior division. "The response was overwhelming," she said, and added the club had also offered a donation towards the £3,000 cost of sending the container. The Road Runners donated £750 and plenty of running shoes from senior and junior members, Leah organised a Moroccan-themed evening of food and dance at her school, which quickly sold out, and a donation of Langage Farm ice-cream raised another £100. Eventually Leah had collected enough books, microscopes, rulers, pencils, PE equipment, hockey sticks, balls, woodwork tools, furniture and bicycles to make up a full load, as well as enough cash to transport it.
Thanks to the combined efforts of many Plymouth people, the 40 foot container left for The Gambia on 4th November 2009.
Following on from the area linking visit to The Gambia, the 5 Plymouth schools visited their partner schools in the Bulok area during the May half term. For extracts on their reports, please click here.
In December 2008 during a visit by the International Development Officer to The Gambia with the University of Plymouth, five Plymouth schools were found partner schools in the Bulok area of The Gambia.
The Gambia in West Africa is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and on the other by the ocean. It is a developing country that now looks to tourism for much of its revenue having once depended upon on agriculture. Many of its people have moved into towns near the sea to find jobs leaving much of the countryside less populated. Access to the towns, villages and countryside is either by the river Gambia or a road which runs alongside it covering some 400+ km. The road is made up as far as Brikama but has no tarmac beyound that making travel slow and dusty.
All the schools are located at various places not far from this road with pupils coming from the surrounding villages. The people of The Gambia are predominantly Moslem although there are some Christians but they live very peacefully together even celebrating each other’s festivals. The schools are often the centre of the community and many have wells where water can be obtained for those living nearby.
The Headteachers of all the schools were very welcoming and delighted that schools in Plymouth wished to make links with them. What they lack in resources they certainly make up for in enthusiasm. Since the links were made several letters, children’s work and school details have been exchanged and it is hoped that the schools will eventually undertake joint projects together. A wonderful gentleman, Dawda Faye, who works for the Catholic Education Secretariat and helped to establish the links, is acting as ‘messenger’ to ensure communication is facilitated as many of the schools do not have postal addresses or IT connections.