October 2013 Newsletter

 As autumn lands with a bump, we are beginning our plans for our next visit to The Gambia, in January.  But first, an update on recent Sohm-related activities.

On 15 October our second container of materials leaves the UK for Banjul - and a big thank you to our friends at Football Gambia for making this happen. By the time it leaves, we will have sent over 20 x 50 litre boxes of generous donations this year, which we will pick up, early in January, and take to Sohm, for distribution.



Some of the Sohm-bound containers and contents

We have sent:

• A couple hundred school science textbooks and an extensive collection of school science equipment, generously given by Auchmuty High School, in Glenrothes, Fife - as it has become surplus to requirements, following their move to new buildings. The school also gave us a much-needed PC printer.

• Four more laptops, thanks to donations by relatives: Owen, Rachel and Nick, and former colleague, Annette. In addition, we've bought - from an extremely competitive supplier - new batteries for each of the half dozen laptops we've already sent to Sohm - to extend their useful lives.

Much needed science equipment will improve teaching in Sohm

• Over 130 PC memory sticks, which our good friend Maria has hoovered up from her office, and wiped clean.  It will mean that all of Sohm's ICT students will be able to store all of their own work, in one place - essential in a non-networked environment.

• A large selection of appropriate children's clothes, for pupils at the schools, following a request from some of the women in the village.

Additionally, we've spent some of the hard-raised funds collected in the UK, to purchase some supplies in demand in the schools.  So, in addition to the laptop batteries and printer ink, mentioned above, we have also:

• Purchased 10 litres of blackboard paint and brushes for its application.  This is a key step in improving the predominant 'talk and chalk' delivery of lessons in the schools.

• Bought external hard drive capacity to help with school ICT capacity and teaching delivery.

Laptops, batteries and memory sticks will upgrade out-dated ICT equipment

So, its all stations go!  Even after the purchasing, packaging and delivery costs, we should be able to take considerably in excess of £2,000 to Sohm next January, to spend locally, in helping achieve the goals of the charity. We'll keep you updated on progress on that front, once it has happened.

Thanks!

 

We continue to be grateful to a whole range of people - too many to mention, individually - for their generosity in supporting Sohm's schools.

 

But, a special word of thanks must go to former Derwentwater pupil, Yodit, who we featured on this site in July. We then celebrated the fact that she raised £15 for Sohm,  via a sponsored silence in her last day as a primary school pupil.



Yodit - an inspiration to us all!

 

She has followed this kind gesture by undertaking even more fund-raising for her former school's twin school, in The Gambia.

 

She has, in total, given this charity £30, which with Gift Aid amounts to almost £40.  To put this into context: we will be able to use it to purchase enough English language textbooks for a whole class to benefit.  By careful use, this will mean that 100 pupils will benefit next year.

 

Well done, Yodit!  You are an example and inspiration to us all - and offer just the kind of commitment that keeps us going, in tough economic times!

a

Digital divide widens in The Gambia

Top English national newspaper, The Guardian, has just published - on-line, its shortlist for its prestigious international development journalism prize.  We are delighted that Sohm Schools Support friend and relative, Sarah Shearman, has joined that illustrious list of 12 journalists, from an original entry of around 500 articles.

The shortlisted journalists will have their articles published in a future supplement of the paper and be invited to do some blogging and writing for the paper, on international development issues, in the future. 

The prize winners will be announced later in the summer.  But we'd like to congratulate Sarah now for her great distinction in making this highly-regarded short-list.

Sarah may end up as a prize-winner.  We believe that the people of The Gambia, and of Sohm in particular, are real winners for having their plight highlighted in such a professional way.

Sarah's article and that of the 11 other shortlisted applicants can be found from the Guardian's website,  here.

We'll keep you upto speed with further developments in this great story, as they emerge.

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)