23 November 2017
Day 16 Mostly project and assembly work
Yun, Tom and Isaac set off with
Jerreh shortly after 9.00 to go for their second visit to Yundum Barracks
Schools. Shortly after them Carol, Pippa and I with Wandifa, Abdoulie and
Yankuba set off in the opposite direction towards Banjul.
Our first port of call was to
Banjul Hospital to give them parcels of very small woollen hats and blankets
for neonatal and very young babies. The staff were very grateful for these.
On then to Wesleyan LBS in Banjul.
We had told the principal that we had agreed to fund their project for
hard-standing for a catering area. She was delighted and we gave her the money
to carry out the project.
St Augustine’s SSS was our next
stop. That was where our container had been unpacked almost two weeks ago. We
had left with them some modular shelving units that had been disassembled in Leatherhead
and shipped over. St Augustine’s was the lucky recipient, mainly because the
frames were so heavy that it would have been nigh on impossible to take them
anywhere else. The shelving now had to be reassembled but we had no instructions
and its assembly was not particularly intuitive. With the aid of photos taken
as the shelving was disassembled we could work out how to do it and showed staff
at the school the method. We did a small section and then left the rest in the
capable hands of the staff.
Assembling shelving units
We then headed out of Banjul and
stopped off at St Therese’s Lower and Upper Basic Schools to see a couple of
children who were sponsored and one who wanted to be.
Heading now towards Yundum which is
where the barracks schools are, we picked up our carpenter’s liaison, Fansu and
then returned to those schools. We are having made some tables and benches for
the lower basic school there. We know what size table top and bench tops we
want, but not the height. We all discussed this at some length and agreed on
the height suitable for a G2 or G3 class. After leaving we gave Fansu the money
to get the work done; he thinks it will take two weeks.
Tom Isaac and Yun had not finished
at the school, so we drove a few kilometres down the road to Kings Kid Academy
in Lamin village. We were hoping to see our old friend Bishop Dennis but he was
in Senegal, so we spoke with the new Headteacher who started in September. We knew
he had a project to create six new classrooms on two levels and we were given a
very professional document including architect’s plans and estimates to take
away and consider.
Back then for the final time to
the barracks schools to pick up Isaac, Tom and Yun who were still playing rugby
with delighted children at that time. They said they had had a great time
there.
