THE GAMBIA REALITY NURSERY SCHOOL

The construction of the nursery school in Sanyang is well underway; the building measures 37m x 9m and consists of 3 classrooms, an office and a storeroom. Due to a shortage of cement in The Gambia and the celebration of Ramadam throughout September, the completion of the school has been delayed until January 2008.
We hope that the school will be operational by the beginning of January, however the school lessons have already started in three temporary classrooms within a local compound - the lessons are from 8am – 1pm, Mon – Fri. One evening at 9pm, we arrived at the compound unannounced and we were pleasantly surprised to find that quite a few of the local children were in class carrying out their night studies. The ages of the children ranged from 3 to 11 yrs and they were being taught by candle light by a 13year old girl who had a 7month old sleeping baby strapped to her back. Some of the older children were doing their homework while reciting the alphabet with the younger ones – this was real dedication. These children really want to learn!
There are now 60 children registered at the school, 28 of whom have been sponsored. We have had 28 uniforms made by a local tailor for the sponsored children. The nursery has had 20 tables and some chairs donated by a Gambian scout group who receives containers of items from a scout group in Denmark.
A further container arrived in The Gambia on 18th November, which also contained more furniture for the school.