End of term report - July 2014 newsletter

 
As the school year comes to an end, in The Gambia and back home, it seems a good time to review progress of our support to the schools Sohm, over recent months.

It has been a very productive year, as far as the charity is concerned.  Sandra and John spent a month in The Gambia, in January and set in trail a number of initiatives that have now come to fruition.

Buildings refurbishment

Our latest, and most ambitious, project was to restore two derelict classrooms at the Lower Basic school, and bring them back into use - thus relieving over-crowding in a school, where 60 pupils in a class is the norm.



Derelict classroom, now refurbished
and restored to full use!

Because Sohm is so remote, the school and Education department provides residential accommodation for Lower Basic teachers in the village.  This is now over 30 years old, and has not been properly maintained.  So, we have been able to refurbish all of this accommodation: providing new roofs, doors, and windows, repairing broken walls and plumbing systems, over the last four months.  As a result, teachers now have decent housing, by local standards, which improves their well-being and comfort, from which the students will indirectly benefit.




Teachers' accommodation,
prior to repair



... and after!

 Examinations support

We now provide support to the Lower Basic school, each year, as they approach their external examinations. So, we pay for duplication of past papers, to help with preparation, and other teacher support, for this year's.  Last year this resulted in a significant improvement in the final examination results the pupils sat.  We are hopeful that our support this year will have a similar impact.

School trip

We have just funded the annual school trip for 180 years 6 and 7 students at the Lower Basic school.  This has meant a visit to the country's capital, its only airport and the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, for many of these 10 and 11 year olds.  This is truly a mind broadening and enjoyable event for these youngsters, as they leave their primary school.  The letters we received from last year's attendees were detailed and fascinating (and available for all the charity's supporters to see).  They confirmed our view of the value of this trip for the youngsters.



Essays and letters of thanks,
following last year's school trip

Sports support

Working with our good friends at Football Gambia and Kit Aid, we have been able to give considerable quatities of sports kit and equipment to the pupils of both senior and junior schools in the village this year.  We have provided the junior school with sports equipment, which will help with their physical development and education.  Football Gambia enabled us to supply over 60 full football strips to the senior school - and they were given a pride of place demonstration at the school's recent sports day.



Over 60 football strips donated,
thanks to our good friends at
Football Gambia and Kit Aid

Continued sponsorship

As a result of the support we are given by a dozen or so supporters, we continue to directly sponsor students at both the Lower Basic and Senior Secondary schools.  We equalise the payments over the expected school life of each pupil; so we can provide sponsorship for a standard flat rate of £60 per year (£5 per month, preferably by standing order).  This, with the Gift Aid we can claim, provides the fees (school and examination) to enable youngsters to attend school, throughout their school lives. Sponsors are sent a letter of thanks, school report and recent photo of the pupil, each year.



Amie Jarju - one of the dozen pupils
whose education we fund, for a donation
of just £5 per month from the sponsor

Stationery

In January we supplied every pupil in both the Senior and Lower Basic schools with a selection of appropriate stationery equipment - relevant to their specific age and needs.  So, there were a couple of exercise books per pupil, a range of graph and drawing paper books, pens, crayons and pencils for each school. These were greatly appreciated by all - as the photos illustrates!



Thanks for the excercise books!!

Computer and ICT studies support

As a result of generous donations of surplus laptop computers in previous years, we have been able to supply the Senior school with equipment to assist with ICT studies, where there is no mains electricity.  Almost inevitably, however, many of the donated laptops had batteries with short power storage capacities.  This year we have been able to source a number of cheap battery replacements for them.  This has increased battery lives of the laptops, from about 20 minutes to over two hours, on average.  It has greatly assisted with ICT teaching. 



ICT resources and capacity greatly improved

Additionally, a good friend recently gave us 120 memory sticks, so that most of the ICT students can now have their own work on their own device, for use on any PC where they do their work.  A great, and much appreciated advantage for the Sohm youngsters.

Books and bikes

Last year we established a book fund, so that every senior student in the Upper school had shared access to a relevant textbook for all subjects.  We were able to top this up,this year, and the government is now offering a similar arrangements for the youngest age group pupils!  A real victory in the pursuit of raising educational improvement.



Book fund - supplemented!

Transport improvements

As many as 50 students walk at least 3 miles to and from the Senior school each day.  It has been given bikes, in the past, from Jole Riders, to help with pupils' travel arrangements who live furthest from the school.  Many of the bikes, however, have fallen into disrepair.  Last year we were able to fund an overhaul of many of them. This year we supplemented this with the provision of a number of cheap puncture repair kits, pumps and replacement saddles, to encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own bikes.



Bike repair kits, to help students take
responsibility for their own vehicles

Big thanks

Our good friends at Derwentwater Primary school in Acton have continued to assist us in raising funds for the charity - and thus for the students in Sohm.  We have recently raised £100 from a raffle at the school's summer fair, which when added to the money raised at the Christmas fair, and associated Gift Aid, means that we will be able to take over £300 form our Acton friends to Sohm next January.  This will, for example, pay for the much needed and appreciated schools trips, or the annual stationery donation to the Lower Basic school.



Sohm Lower Basic school,
friends with Derwentwater Primary
school, Acton

Our friends north of the border

Thanks to a generous donation by our friends at Auchmuty High school in Glenrothes, in Fife, we were able to considerably equip a science laboratory in the Sohm Senior school this year, where previously there was none.



Science equipment, generously
donated by Auchmuty High school, Fife

How to help

We aim to raise about £5,000 per year.  Our friends and relatives who sponsor students contribute about £1,000 of that, and Derwentwater Primary school has provided as similar sum, over recent years.  We have, additionally, been able to raise another £1,000 via a presence at jumble and car boot sales and the odd sale of unwanted gifts via e.bay etc.  Very generous one-off contributions from good friends has usually ensured that similar sums are given to the charity each year.  Now - that missing £1,000? Well, odd cash earnings from bits of paid for work contribute to that.  But .. we are always open to all offers of cash, or goods that can be sent to Sohm, or sold to raise funds for the schools there.

So, anything you can offer, to continue what we believe is a good value-for-money project in this remote African village, for the educational benefit of literally hundreds of deprived young people would be much appreciated.

John and Sandra Walker

May 2013 Newsletter - Number 5

This is the third, and last, of our newsletter updates, letting you know of the progress we made on your behalf, and with your money (!), when we were in The Gambia, earlier in the year. We hope you are as encouraged as we are with progress and the value for money we have achieved for your hard earned donations.

You can get details of our earlier newsletters on our website - for details, see end of this letter.

School trip for the Lower Basic school

Sohm is quite a remote community, with only bicycles and a once a day bush taxi as a means of exploration beyond its boundaries. Many of the village's children haven't even managed this, by the time they leave the Lower Basic school.

We have worked on a scheme with the school to provide a day school trip for all of the year 5 and year 6 pupils (about 180 in all). The day out will provide a packed lunch and visit to three of the following: Banjul, the country's capital city, the beach and Atlantic Ocean, the country's only commercial airport, its zoo and the Wassu Stones - Gambia's mysterious Stonehenge-like monument on the north bank of the country.

The Wassu Stones - a key historic site in the Gambia - its very own mini-Stonehenge

We are delighted to say that Owen Walker has agreed to sponsor this trip this year. Owen has recently moved to New York and has said how important travel was in expanding his horizons and perspectives, as he was growing up. His wish is that some of these benefits may rub off on the Sohm youngsters. Thanks, Owen!!

Distribution of donated laptops

There is no mains electricity in Sohm's two schools, no internet access, almost no computers and little ICT competence; but the schools struggle valiantly to not get left further behind in a rapidly developing wired world.

Laptops, with good batteries for power storage, provide a much appreciated boost to those efforts. Dennis Roberts was kind enough to donate 3 laptops to us last autumn and Rose Phillips, another. As a result of free transport, donated by our friends at Football Gambia, we were able to get these out to Sohm in February this year. And what a difference they have made!

ICT lessons can now be conducted, whether the generator is on, or not, via the storage capacity of the batteries - which can be charged elsewhere in the village. Additionally, each of the two school heads now has a PC for school record keeping and keeping in touch with us, and others!

We were able to supplement these very generous donations with some ICT teaching books and some memory sticks, to the benefit of staff and students at the schools, alike.

We have been promised more free transport capacity to The Gambia, this autumn. So, if you or colleagues are disposing of laptops (with good batteries), as you upgrade or migrate to tablets - get in touch! We'll be delighted to pick them up from you and can guarantee they will make a difference to young African lives!

Communications updates

We were delighted to get six very positive pieces of news coverage for the charity in the Gambian press, while in the country, earlier this year...check out our In The News page. In addition, we have had coverage for our efforts in the Ealing Gazette and Ealing Council magazine. While in The Gambia we caught up with Ian Wiggins, a freelance video/film maker who agreed to make a short video about Sohm Schools Support, free of charge for us. We have posted this on our website, along with the press coverage, to update supporters and casual visitors on the charity's progress. So a big thanks to Wiggy! You can contact him via earwiggy@sky.com

Coverage from Gambian newspaper, The Point, 7 March 2013

You can find about all of this press coverage, and more, on our In the News page

Keep in touch

We have a presence on Facebook (SohmSchoolsSupport), Twitter (@GambiaSchools) and a website (www.sohmschoolssupport.org.uk), and can be contacted via e.mail at info@sohmschoolssupport.org.uk.

Keep in touch and find out how we are getting on, and spending our income!

That's enough from us, for now. Until the next time,

John and Sandra Walker
(Trustees, Sohm Schools Support)

April 2013 Newsletter - Number 4

We gave you details of some progress made in Sohm during our recent visit to the Gambia in our last (March) newsletter, and promised more in this one.  So, here goes!

In addition to providing teacher training for the schools in Sohm, establishing a book fund and cementing school twinning arrangements, reported last time, we are delighted to update you on a few more areas of activity.

Football Gambia's Sports Day

Our friends at the UK charity, Football Gambia, paid a day visit to Sohm and provided a fun day of football and general sports training and activity for the village and its two schools.  Forty plus UK volunteers descended on the village and offered football training skills to the Senior Secondary school, and a variety of outdoor education games to the pupils in the Lower Basic school.

Music-based outdoor fun and games for Lower Basic school pupils

A great time was had by all, and Football Gambia crowned their contribution to the day by giving 40 sets of England and Liverpool football kits and footballs to the Senior school, donated by Kit Aid, and a range of outdoor play equipment to the Lower Basic school.  Their efforts were much appreciated by students and staff of both schools, ourselves and the country's regional director of Education, who felt it added greatly to the physical education the pupils receive in Sohm.

Sponsorship Arrangements

A dozen friends, relatives and supporters of Sohm Schools Support sponsor the education of students at the two schools.  We have changed some of the sponsorship arrangements, which we believe will make things easier for sponsors and more beneficial for the two schools. School fees vary from year to year, and sometimes there are external exam fees to find - which means that sponsorship requests move up and down over the period of a student's education.

We think this makes things difficult for sponsors, so we have equalised things out, so that from now on sponsorship will be a flat commitment of £5 per month (£60 per year - which is topped up by another £15, as a result of the government's Gift Aid Scheme).  For ease of administration we'd prefer that this sum was paid by Standing Order (monthly, quarterly or annually).

Sandra, with some of the Sohm students
sponsored by supporters of the charity

An element of sponsorship money pays for books. Until now, those books have been given to the sponsored student.  We are changing the system so that the book, although used by the student, belongs to the school - so that it can be passed down to students in successive years.

This has taken a bit of persuading and arranging, all round - but we think that everybody we have talked to, in both the UK and The Gambia, is happy with the new arrangements.

All sponsors will now receive a 5" x 7" photo of their student, a letter of thanks from that student and a copy of the student's annual report - as part of the sponsorship arrangements.  We hope you approve of the new, simplified, system and would consider sponsoring a student's education - and making a difference to their life - for the price of a couple of alcoholic drinks, or designer coffees, per month.

Establishment of a Bike Fund

Many of the pupils at Sohm's two schools walk for over an hour each way in searing heat, to and from school each day.  Thanks to the generosity of UK charity Jole Riders, the schools were given 100 bikes three years ago, to make life a bit easier for those living furthest away from the schools. The schools make a small rental charge (about £1.50 per term) for these bikes, to provide a small repairs budget.

Many students can't afford that small sum, however.  And, some of the bikes are getting a bit beyond the "small repairs" stage (there are no cycle lanes or tarmac roads to ride on!), so some of them have fallen into more serious disrepair, to the detriment of those who need them to cut down on school journey time.

Some of the Senior Secondary school pupils benefitting from the Bike Fund

Thanks to the generosity of Bill Carson, we have established a Bike Fund. This is being used to top up the rental income and fix the more damaged bikes.  As a result we have been able to get 12 badly damaged bikes back on the road.

Bill has agreed to extend his generosity by helping us with our own version of a Red Letter Day present. You can give a "Middle Aged Crisis" man or woman of your choice and hour on the back of Bill's Harley Davidson - Rock 'n Roll a blarin' (if that's your choice) - on a route of your choosing, within the Greater London area, at a mutually convenient time.

He'll pick the recipient up, provide leathers (to a wide range of sizes), follow his/her chosen route and return them to the start point. All, for a remarkable £50!  Bill will donate the whole sum, after petrol costs, to the Sohm Bike Fund.

So - make a middle aged person very happy (and we're not just talking about Bill), and some Gambian youngsters mobile with this special treat.  Just contact us by the means shown at the end of this newsletter to make a difference!

Keep in touch

We have a presence on Facebook (SohmSchoolsSupport), Twitter (@GambiaSchools) and a website (www.sohmschoolssupport.org.uk), and can be contacted via e.mail at info@sohmschoolssupport.org.uk.

Keep in touch and find out how we are getting on, and spending our income!

That's enough from us, for now.  Until the next time,

John and Sandra Walker
(Trustees, Sohm Schools Support)

March 2013 Newsletter - Number 3

Sandra and John have recently returned from seven weeks in The Gambia, when they were able to spend a considerable amount of time assisting with the two schools in Sohm.  They achieved a great deal, in allocating the £4,000 plus that the charity has raised this year.  Progress has been made in so many areas, that the news will be spread over the next two newsletters. Activities included:

• Improving sponsorship arrangements;
• Facilitating teacher training;
• Establishing a Book Fund, for the secondary school;
• Ensuring that all 180 10 and 11 year old students, at the Lower Basic school, get a school trip, exploring the major sites in the country;
• Cementing the school twinning arrangement with Derwentwater School, in Acton;
• Distributing donated lap tops to both the lower basic and senior secondary schools;
• Establishing a repair fund, to mend the bikes of students who live more than 2 miles from Sohm, and who would otherwise have to walk to and from school;
• Arranging the visit of 50 members of Football Gambia to Sohm, to provide an all-village sports training day for both schools;

Teacher Training

Sandra's daughter, Natalie, is an assistant head teacher at Derwentwater Primary school in Acton. She spent the February half term in The Gambia, with her colleague, Nicola.  The two of teachers provided whole day teacher training to all of the staff, in each of Sohm's two schools.

They received an over 90% approval rating for their efforts, with the most common remark on the feedback form's being "Come back next year"! The heads of the two schools were delighted with their efforts and are confident that teaching performance in the schools will improve.

Certificates of participation and attendance were presented to all those who attended the courses.  The picture on the previous page shows Natalie and Nicola with the whole staff of the Lower Basic school, with their certificates.

Book Fund

John with the senior school principal, vice principal,
chair of governors and English and ICT teachers,
with some of the books provided by the charity

The Gambian government provide textbooks for pupils until the age of 12.  After that age, students have to buy their own textbooks, or rely on sponsorship.  A year ago there were very few books in the Sohm Senior Secondary school for the 180 years 10, 11 and 12 students (aged 15 - 19) and examination results were poor.

Sohm Schools Support has established a Book Fund over the last two years.  As a result, there are now sufficient text books for these students, so that all of them are able to share a key set book (one book between two students) for each of the 15 subjects studied at this level.  We look forward to greatly improved examination success!

Cementing School Twinning

Derwentwater school in Acton twinned with Sohm Lower Basic school last year, and raised funds for their Gambian friends and colleagues at two school fairs. The pupils have exchanged letters and whole class diaries. We presented small prizes to the Sohm pupils who wrote the best letters to their London colleagues, while in The Gambia

Students at each school have had lessons on the countries and life styles of their international friends. A talented artist in the village was keen to show Sohm's gratitude for the twinning and painted the Derwentwater logo on the wall outside Gibril Bojang - the Lower Basic school's head teacher's office.

Sandra with Gibril Bojang (principal) and LaminSamu(deputy - crouching)
by the friendship sign outside the head teacher's office in Sohm

Football Gambia Sports Day

Sohm youngsters enjoying a parachute game
 on the Sports Day arranged by Football Gambia

We'll be providing you with an update of this exiting occasion, in our next newsletter.  We thought we'd just whet your appetite, now!!

Keep in Touch

We have a presence on Facebook (SohmSchoolsSupport), Twitter (@GambiaSchools) and a website (www.sohmschoolssupport.org.uk), and can be contacted via e.mail at info@sohmschoolssupport.org.uk.  Keep in touch and find out how we are getting on, and spending our income!

That's enough from us, for now.  Until the next time,

John and Sandra Walker
(Trustees, Sohm Schools Support)

November 2012 Newsletter - Number 2

Progress continues to be made in our efforts to help with the education of the pupils at the schools in Sohm.  Read on, for an update on our activities.

Derwentwater Primary School Twinning

This West London primary school has twinned with the Sohm Lower Basic School.  There has been quite a bit of contact, profile raising and friendship building over the last four months.

Sandra and John, from the charity, visited the school during Black History month and took year assemblies covering the whole school and talked about African masks.  This provoked quite a bit of interest, and launched a whole school 'mask making' competition.  There were some fantastic entries (a few, we suspect, with a bit of enthusiastic parental involvement!).  So, we'll be back soon, to do a bit of judging and prize awarding (they are all winners!).

The good, the bad and the ugly,
Derwentwater pupils enthusiastically
demonstrate masks in action!

We'll be back at the school in December running a stall at the Winter Fair, with some table top items, a raffle, and some Gambian food.  This will, hopefully, maintain the interest in Sohm, and hopefully raise a little money for the schools there, from the good folk of Derwentwater.

Fund Raising

Funds continue to trickle in to the charity (and many thanks to those supporters with standing orders).  All money raised will be spent, by us, on items directly benefiting the education of the Gambian youngsters (books, visual aids, a bit of teacher training, equipment etc).

Particular thanks go to Elin and Paul, who arranged for a collection for the charity at their recent wedding reception.  The happy couple are at the left of the photo, below, on their special day, with School Sohm Support trustee, Rose Phillips, far right in the photo - resplendent in maid of honour dress.

Paul and Elin (left); and  SSS trustee, Rose ( far right)

Hopefully, we'll add to the charity's funds with our appearance at the Derwentwater Winter Fair, in a couple of weeks

Train the Teachers

Two Derwentwater teachers, Natalie (Sandra's daughter) and her work colleague Nicola (pictured below) will be giving up their February half term break to visit the schools in Sohm and provide a bit of teacher training for the staff.  They are working hard on a pack, that they will deliver to all teachers, at both Sohm schools, with the enthusiastic support and encouragement of the two head teachers.

The pack will be offered to the Regional Director of Education, for use in other Gambian schools.

Africa bound: two Derwentwater teachers:
Nicola (left and Natalie (Right),
thoughtfully wearing a pair of bunny ears!

It won't be long

Another couple of months and Sandra and John will be off to the Gambia, for a few weeks, working with the schools in Sohm village and ensuring that every penny raised in the UK is spent to benefit the education of local children.

One of the highlights of our trip will be the project our very good friends at Football Gambia (web: www.footballgambia.org; Twitter (@GambiaSchools).  Bringing 40 volunteers to the Gambia, Ian and his team will deliver a day of football training to the schools' pupils, and teacher training to the schools staff.

Other great friends @KitAid will be supplying kits to all the schools' hundreds of children.  This is international aid at its very best: help, training, international goodwill, capacity building, friendship and co-operation.  Don't know who is more excited; the kids of Sohm, the good folk of Football Gambia, or us!

Some of the great volunteers from Football Gambia,'on tour' during their last visit to The Gambia.

Legal stuff

We obtained formal recognition from HMRC for the charity last November (reg number: XT31271)- which means we can get Gift Ad (an additional 25%, from the exchequer) for every £1 that people give the charity.

Keep in touch

We have a presence on:
Facebook (UkSohmSchoolsSupportTeamTheGambia),
Twitter (@GambiaSchools)
Website (www.sohmschoolssupport.org.uk)

and can be contacted via e.mail at info@sohmschoolssupport.org.uk.  Keep in touch and find out how we are getting on, and spending our income!

That's enough from us, for now.  Until the next time,

John and Sandra Walker
(Trustees, Sohm Schools Support)

August 2012 Newsletter - Number 1

The charity has been established for less than a year, but has achieved a great deal in a short time.  We hope you have a chance to look at this newsletter  and to see what use we have put to the support  we have been given by dozens, or possibly hundreds of people backing us.

Establishment

We obtained formal recognition from HMRC for the charity last November - which means we can get Gift Ad (an additional 25%, from the exchequer) for every £1 that people give the charity.

Since that time, we have established a presence on
Facebook (UkSohmSchoolsSupportTeamTheGambia),

Twitter (@GambiaSchools) and a

website (www.sohmschoolssupport.org.uk)

Links

We have extremely close relationships with the heads of the two schools in Sohm (the Lower Basic (primary) and Senior Secondary Schools) and their respective PTAs.  We have good relationships with the country's regional director of education and a number of Gambian based NGOs.

We already had close ties with the Jersey Gambia Schools Trust, who inspired us to get involved in Sohm.  Since that time we have established links with two UK charities, Football Gambia and Kit Aid, who have helped and will offer great support to the schools in Sohm, in the future (see below).

We are extremely fortunate to have encouraged a twinning/friendship relationship between the Lower Basic School in Sohm and the Derwentwater Primary School, in Acton (see below).

Garden Party and Fundraising

We held a very successful fund-raising party, in early July; where, despite the alternative attraction of Mr Murray on the Centre Court and the pretty grim weather, we raised almost £3,000.  With the assistance of Mr Osborne and one more push, we are confident we can make that £4k, gross.  Fantastic, and it really did feel like a fun - raising party!

In addition, we have a dozen people sponsoring individual students' education in Sohm (fees, books, uniforms etc) and have regular monthly direct payments to the charity of more than £100 per month.
So, we are pretty happy - but not complacent!  All offers of support, suggestions for income generation, for the future, most welcome!

Twinning

The twinning arrangement between Derwentwater Primary School and the Sohm Lower Basic school has resulted in a flurry of exciting initiatives.  These include: us presenting to a number of year assemblies in Acton, and the school  raising several hundred of pounds through a school fair,  a "dress down" day, raffle ticket sales etc.

The Derwentwater pupils held a very  successful International Week at the end of the summer term, which resulted in some very creative work by the Acton pupils, including a song contest, production of scrap books and diaries, dancework and poster creation (see below).

Children in both Acton and Sohm are enthusiastic about this link and will be exchanging course work, exhibitions, scrapbooks and letters, over the coming months.  We will actively promote this excellent initiative, that benefits so many youngsters.

We are now on the look-out for a secondary school link.  All offers or suggestions most welcome!
These links will be among the most exciting outcomes of our charity, benefiting pupils in both countries and extending the hand of international friendship and understanding.

Progress

Even with the Olympics as a massive preoccupation, we haven't been complacent over the last month!  Our friends at Football Gambia will be sending a container to The Gambia in September and have given us some space in it.  So, we've been busy putting some of the funds raised to good use. People have generously donated laptops that they have upgraded and we have bought 10 litres of blackboard paint, brushes - so vital for an education system that is so dependent on "talk and chalk", where blackboards quickly get worn out and become almost impossible to see and use.

In addition, we've raided every Poundshop for miles, for stationery supplies.  So, yesterday we dropped off seven well-packed cases to the container depot, ready for despatch to The Gambia.  In addition to the laptops and paint this included:

• 1,000 ball point pens, 1,000 pencils, 1,000 crayons (enough to give every pupil in both schools two of each), 500 document wallets/folders
• Fully equipped pencil cases (geometry sets, pens, pencils, erasers, rulers , pencil sharpeners, bundles of colour pencils/crayons etc.) for each of the 12 students sponsored by the charity
• 30 textbooks for the primary school, which can be photocopied locally, for all pupils to gain access, 33 educational wall posters, 40 sets of geometry sets for use by whole classes
• A dozen tennis balls, rackets and Frisbees

Much needed help, packed,
and ready to go to The Gambia!

All of this, for less than a quarter of the funds we have raised to date!

We will work with the schools to ensure that all of the above is well cared-for, and is put to good and proper use. And, rest assured, every penny of the money spent - under our supervision - in The Gambia will be used to directly benefit the education and life chances of the young people of Sohm.

The Future

Sandra and I will be going to The Gambia for six weeks in January (well, somebody has to do it!), totally at our own cost, I should add.  And it will be a busy time.

Our good friends at Football Gambia will be in the country at the time and will be visiting Sohm for a day's activity.  The party of 40 will be leading some education and leadership games, offer 2 hours football skills training and run a match, between themselves and the village.  They, together with our friends at Kit Aid, will be donating new/nearly new football kits to all those involved.

The school are already preparing a pitch, our charity will pay for woodwork and metalwork teachers to build posts etc.  It really will be like a mini-Olympics coming to the village: international friendship, skills transference, a generation inspired, legacy for the future etc. And a good time, and feel good factor will be shared by everyone involved!

A couple of weeks later, Sandra's primary teacher-daughter, Natalie and a work colleague will go to the Gambia for their half term break and spend time working with teachers and pupils alike, in both the lower basic and senior secondary schools, upgrading skills, and hopefully inspiring teachers and pupils alike.

That's enough from us, for now.  Until the next time,

John and Sandra Walker
(Trustees, Sohm Schools Support)