Basori Nursey, toilets, uniforms and 1st Aid training!

We have decided to fund raise for a toilet at the nursery in Basori. The toilet that was there is now dangerous and has been condemned. Consequently for quite some time now the children are having to relieve themselves in the area around the school, which is neither hygienic or dignified. We have had a quote and after much negotiation (as you do in The Gambia!) we have agreed a price of around £550. I have given them so far about £120 to buy sand and cement and to start making blocks in readiness. They have cleared the site of the new toilet and will start digging the soak-away very soon. The toilets will be very simple but safe and easy to keep clean. They will be built in the local style i.e. a hole in the floor but will have a concrete floor and a proper cement soak-away. We need to get the money together as soon as possible so we can complete this job. Any one who would like to donate anything to this cause please contact us.

We have also purchased material and employed the local tailor to make 50 school uniforms for the children who have just started and those whose uniforms have seen better days! The uniforms work out around £3 each but this is just beyond many of the parents. We have asked them to make a small contribution for their uniforms of 15 dalasis (around 35p) and we think most will manage that. If they can't the child will still have their uniforms as it is very important that all the children feel equal.

A further development there is that I have arranged for a charity, First Aid 4 Gambia, to go there on Thursday this week and they will train 10 people, school staff included, in basic first aid. They will then leave a supply of first aid equipment estimated to last a year and will return after that time to offer further training, check the supplies and accident book to see if they tally and replenish where necessary. I am very happy that they have agreed to do this training in Basori, many children get serious infections from quite simple wounds simply because there is no first aid knowledge or supplies there. The clinic is run by a doctor who has many villages to cover and has no medicines or medical supplies to help him in his work. While the training is primarily for the children at the school the skills these people will learn could prove invaluable to others in the village.

Anyone visiting the school in the near future, if you could pop a few plasters, hand sanitiser, calpol and small medical supplies this would be very welcome

Another development there

Short lives

Have recently been informed of the deaths of two young people we know. One was a 6 year girl in Sanyang, she was one of the scouts there. On the Sunday she visited me in Tanji with some of the other Scouts, Monday she was sick and by Thursday she had passed away. Malaria! We went to visit to offer our condolences and were told that only last year her older brother dies from Malaria too. We have now decided to fundraise for mosquito nets for the families of the scouts in Sanyang as very few have these nets. It is only £5 for net so any donations would be gratefully received.

Today I went to Basori with some visitors and was told that the Alkalo's daughter had passed away this morning at the age of 16. She was a diabetic and also contracted TB. Too many children have such short lives here. The village and the family were so apologetic for not greeting us in the usual way with dancing, drumming and lots of noise. Still concerned about us despite their grief.