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| Front view of the new roof After it is repaired |
Géke Lagerburg and her husband Simon, both from Holland, have renovated the roof of
Batokunku Nursery School which was in a very dilapidated condition.
The couple changed the entire roofing - the
timber and corrugates - of the building which consists of two classrooms and
the headmistress’s office. The timbers
of the previous roof were all eaten by terminates and the corrugate was very
rusty.
The officials of the school said the
condition of roof was such that if not refurbish, the government was going to
close it down. That aside, if the rainy season meets the roof in such a bad
state, small wind can blow the entire roof off or even without that when it
rains, the corrugates leak like a sieve.
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| Inside of the new roof |
It was because of the dire situation of
the school that one of the teachers, Momodou Dambelle, has decided to prepare a
donation paper to go to the hotel areas to look for sponsor who can come to the
school’s aid.
It was in this process that Mr Dambelle
met the Dutch couple, who were in the country for tourism, vacation.
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| Front view of the school Before it is repaired |
“When I show them the paper, they said
they want to see the school for themselves,” Dambelle said. “So we had an appointment for them to come to
the school and they came to the school on the appointed day.”
He said many people, tourists, have
promised to come to the school to give a helping hand but they never came.
“So, when they came here, they asked us
what we want, the help we want,” the headmistress of the nursery school, Jalika
Kassama, said. “We told them that our
urgent need is to help us make the roof.
Roofing is our headache now. If
the roof is not made, the children are going to suffer before the closing of
school for summer holiday.”
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| Inside of the old roof |
She said the couple then promised that
they will do all they can to help the school to renovate the roof. According to the headmistress, the couple
also promised that if the roofing is successfully completed then they may give
the school other relevant help needed.
In fulfilment of their promise, the couple
sent in the money for the renovation of the roof through their contact in The
Gambia, Amadou Demba.
Now the work is completed, the school is
having a new roof now.
Baboucarr Jatta, a senior teacher at the
school, said the help of the couple came at a very good time.
All the officials of the school thanked
the couple for their “timely intervention” for making the school environment
conducive for learning, once again.
Amadou Demba, who was the one
representing the couple in the country, said he is happy because the entire
process of the renovation was very successful.
“Also, I am very happy because though I
am not a native of Batokunku, I see that the project is not helping only the
natives of Batokunku but the whole Gambia,” he said.
He thanked the teachers and the carpenter
for their cooperation during the work.
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| The Dutch couple pose with the teachers and the pupils of Batokunku Nursery School |
The sponsors, the Dutch couple said they supported the nursery
school because during their visit to the school they have seen that the roof
was in a poor condition.
They also said during their visit they observed that the teachers
are very kind and they really love the little children.
The duo said the teachers believe the kids are the future of The
Gambia.
In this same vein, they - the couple – noted that whatever they do
for the school, for the kids they are doing it for the future of The Gambia.
Now that the first engagement of the couple with the school is
finished, they said they will discuss with the school officials to know what is
most important to do for the school next.
However, the couple from Holland said now their plan is to involve
the community in what they doing with the school so that the community can feel
responsible for their own school.
