19 November 2018
Day 13: Monday, pencil cases and sponsors' gifts...
...but first, we sadly had to say goodbye to Carole.. and very good she looked in a delightful dress made for her by a young man she used to sponsor.
goodbye to Carole
(Sorry Carole, but even standing on a step did not bring you up to the height of our guys!!)
Then, off with Regina for a day of delivering filled pencil cases to some newly sponsored students and more gifts and letters to some who have been sponsored for some time.
As it was a school day we were not trying to find them at home, but in class. This is not always as easy as it sounds, due to the large number of classes in the same year group in many schools. As it is near the start of the school year we very seldom know the name of the class or class teacher and Gambian school records can be somewhat haphazard.
No two schools are the same. Some are large, with huge shady compounds...
Then, off with Regina for a day of delivering filled pencil cases to some newly sponsored students and more gifts and letters to some who have been sponsored for some time.
As it was a school day we were not trying to find them at home, but in class. This is not always as easy as it sounds, due to the large number of classes in the same year group in many schools. As it is near the start of the school year we very seldom know the name of the class or class teacher and Gambian school records can be somewhat haphazard.
No two schools are the same. Some are large, with huge shady compounds...
a large Gambian school...
...with a huge shady compound
...others are small with almost no outside space at all...
a small Gambian school
...but one thing they all have in common is quite large class sizes by our standards.
We did very well, delivering all our pencil cases and most of the remaining letters. Only those for the north bank are left, which we hope to deliver on Wednesday.
We also went back to the bee keepers for further discussions and bought several bars of their beeswax soap while we were there.
We did very well, delivering all our pencil cases and most of the remaining letters. Only those for the north bank are left, which we hope to deliver on Wednesday.
We also went back to the bee keepers for further discussions and bought several bars of their beeswax soap while we were there.
beeswax soap
At D25 (about 40p) per bar it seemed very reasonable... I bought one each for the guys and me and they each bought another one for themselves.
Back to the hotel, David and Regina's last evening....and then there will only be one....
Back to the hotel, David and Regina's last evening....and then there will only be one....
