I indulged in a taxi to take me from Kanefing to Westfield at 8 30a.m on Thursday, 25th January. My excuse is that for three days I had been struggling with a heavy cold and temperature (yes they do happen even here). The taxi driver assumed I was late when I jumped onto the back seat, as each morning when I walk past I usually joke that I need the excise more than his services. This morning I surprised him!
Westfield is a bustling junction and street market. People jostle and call; selling wares and rounding up passengers for gely-gelies going in all directions. Amid all the chaos I needed to find one going towards Brikhama. Two men darted forward and began haggling over which one had got to me first. I chose one and followed him to his gely, realising almost immediately that my selection had been unwise as the vehicle was practically empty. This meant quite a wait as gelies do not leave according to a schedule. They leave when they are full!
I didn’t worry too much as I did have time to spare but changed my mind just after a taxi drove smack into the rear of the gely-gely, As voices and temperatures rose I quickly jumped out through the open door and in through the one on the side of the gely gely in front, taking the last seat. The apprentice clunked the sliding door closed and we set off immediately.
I was bound for Abuko Lower Basic School for another wonderful day with Bernice and my “stop” was “Veterinary” in Abuko, right next to the African Locust Project.
The journey went so smoothly that I arrived early, while Bernice was busy with a visiting teacher from another school. Luckily Mr Touray, a senior teacher, was on hand to take care of me; finding me a chair and offering me a choice of locations. I asked him to put it outside, in the enormous school yard. Gambian mornings are cool just now and it was enjoyable to sit in the fresh air listening to the bustle of a very happy school where gentle good humour and respect is almost tangible
Next to Bernice’s office was an empty class. The teacher was away unwell and so her pupils had been divided up amongst the other classes. This is unusual in Gambia. Often in such circumstances, classes, of even very young children, are simply left for the day unsupervised if the teacher is absent. It is indicative of Bernice’s team’s professionalism and care that the children’s learning needs come first.
As I sat, I watched the children coming and going in their blue uniforms. Plain blue skirts for the girls and baggy knee length shorts for the boys, topped by checked shirts or blouses. Despite financial struggles, Abuko families take a pride in dressing their children smartly for school. It made me giggle to spot one or two of the boys, rushing along the long front porch, and stop just short of the head’s office, to make sure their shirts were tucked in. Another two boys travelled and scuffled with each other wearing grins from ear to ear. Shyly in their wake came a tiny little girl, dressed in the green check of the nursery, completely accessorised in pink: backpack, shoes, socks and hair ribbon. A fleeting timid smile crossed her face as she passed me.
Even the most earnest young faces readily crack into the most brilliant of smiles.
I looked over to one side of the school yard where the new nine classroom block is under construction. The second floor looked nearly complete but there is also to be a third. Apart from this additional floor, the new block replicates the design of the old one; the integral porches providing protection from the hot sun and heavy rains.
Each floor in the new block will house three classrooms with some office space allocation, probably for the deputy as Bernice could not bear to leave her neat little office in the heart of the original building. She would like it even more if it were spruced up a little and has plans for this old block to be redecorated, if funds can be raised.
Despite all these plans there was little actual activity on the building site, an hour after the children started lessons. The children in grades 1 and 2 chanted, grades 3 and 4 teachers questioned and the boys from Mr Touray’s class carried large sections of branches over to the school kitchen to fuel the brick ovens.
The workmen sat and considered!
Overhead about 20 large birds of prey, eagles or vultures, circled and soared. Those that came low revealed long twigs in their beaks. They were busy nest building, but sadly the workmen were not busy at all! Oh well “domanding, domanding” as they say in Mandinka, “little by little”.
For the first time I began to notice the health posters stuck along the external walls. Child death rates are falling here so the drive to promote such things as: Malaria prevention, hand washing before handling food, catching coughs and sneezes is obviously having positive effects.
Schools are the obvious community centres to take the lead with health initiates, educating children and parents alike.
Suddenly Bernice was free and I could join her for a couple of hours checking the draft of her Development Plan which I had been working on since we last met. We enjoy each others company, sharing very similar professional concerns and joys, despite careers in different continents.
By lunchtime the smile on Bernice’s face matched that of her pupils. She was delighted with her first workable School Development Plan which reflected all her intentions over the next few years. She immediately discarded her earlier version. Strategic Planning was introduced into schools here in the recent past but was not based upon a review structure. This has caused confusion. Taking the Minimum Standards (The Gambian equivalent of Ofsted) as a basis I have devised a School Self Review programme which can be done either manually or on computer, which a few heads do have. I am actually quite proud of my knowledge of the Minimum Standards, feeling I am almost ready to take it as a specialist subject on Master Mind.
Bernice was the third head teacher to work through the process with me and afterwards we celebrated with tea and fresh salad from the school garden. While we ate we chatted over our work, giving me an insight into ways to improve the process for the future. Working in a partnership is without doubt the most pleasurable part of my work here, and there has never been a better time than with Bernice.
One of the biggest challenges for Gambian Head teachers is the new focus on free early education for very young children and so as we had time to spare I asked if we could visit the ECD (Early Childhood Unit).
The building is a three classroom annexed block completely walled off from the rest of the site, but set within it. The unit is painted green, reflecting the colour of the uniform. There is a garden and some swing frames ready to be put into action when the teachers choose to add the seats.
Each of the classrooms had about 50 children, in fact one had 57. The children all sat on chairs intended for children a few years older but they sat happily; keen to chant letter sounds or known choruses, echoing their teachers, two of whom were young men. This is not unusual here. In fact there are so many male teachers, there is a national drive to increase the number of women teachers to 40% of the total.
These ECD classes had a blackboard, number line and letter frieze. Bernice explained they also had counting resources. This, to UK eyes, is a very meagre amount of equipment but children do not have much at home and so expect few material goodies at school. It still leaves me in awe of how such large classes are managed with so few resources.
On our way back, we walked along the edge of the yard where pupils were eating their dinner. Rice is provided by the World Food Fund and the cost of the sauce is met by each child bringing 2 Dalasis a day.
Huge bowls of food were collected by the staff and set out on tables under one of the trees. The rice and the sauce were ladled into large plastic bowls which were placed in the centre of small groups of children who ate in the traditional way: crouching and eating with their right hand. It was a happy sight and later it was a privilege to visit the kitchen team who provided the meal. Mostly these were the “mothers’ club”, about 8 women led by the indomitable cook. Laughing, the team of helpers explained that they too were volunteers as they were paid in rice – a 50kg bag each every month. The kitchen was large, clean and immaculately ordered. Across the back of the main room was a brick staging.
Set within the second “step” were four fire holes where the logs brought by Mr Touray’s class earlier were aflame under the large pots above. These were filled with water (ready to take the rice) and the sauce.
I wondered why all this was going on when I had just seen the children eating. Then I remembered. This is a double shift school. The 650 pupils who had eaten were the morning shift. What I could now see was the preparation for the second sitting, later in the afternoon.
As I left I saw into the second smaller room, It was neatly filled with gleaming pots, each one the size of my UK oven!
Everything at Abuko is amazing: the level of care, professionalism, community involvement and respect for learning but my most enduring memory will be the smiles, laughter and genuine welcome.
