Racing against nature to provide hope for future

The Aldingbourne couple have just three months to complete the school building they have financed before the monsoon season begins.

The three months of torrential rain which fall on the Gambian village of Kunebeh from July will destroy the waist-high structure which has been built so far.

Increasing the walls to roof height and adding a roof is a necessity if the educational facility is to survive as a beacon of hope for the future of the villagers.

They are illiterate and survive by subsistence farming. But there is only one borehole to supply the 3,500 villagers. Their lives are consumed by the necessities of water for drinking and washing, fire and food.

"The village has probably not changed for several hundred years in terms of its functioning life. They are quite happy people because they have not got the A-Z of worries we have," explains David (59), a former adult services manager for Bognor Regis and Chichester in the county social services department.

"But they realise they are behind the times and they want a better future for their children."

The idea for the school for which David and Janet (56) are raising money arose during their visit to Kunebeh last April with their friends Lyn and Essa Dambelly, who was brought up there.

Education was seen as a priority when they asked the Gambians what they wanted. David and Janet, of Church Road, have since raised some 4,000. A recent fundraiser was an evening of music at St Mary's Church in Aldingbourne.

Previous money-spinners have included car-boot sales, a sponsored walk along the South Downs and tea parties. They have also received individual donations of up to 300.

Further events are planned to bring in the 1,500 needed to finish off building work.

The school will be the first in Kunebeh. It is a village far from the tourist areas along the Gambia coast which receive most publicity.

A journey inland of between nine and ten hours has to be undertaken to arrive at its location on a bank of the River Gambia.

That isolation '“ and the poverty '“ means education is currently available to only a privileged few.

The new school will overcome that exclusivity. It will cater for up to 150 children aged between four and six.

The building will comprise three classrooms, an office, storeroom and toilets.

A head and two teachers will be needed to run the classes, a board of governors formed to oversee the school's life and a parent-and-teacher association formed to involve the mums and dads.

The presence of the school will cause the Gambian government to build a primary, or basic, school for seven to 11-year-olds to build on those first three years of education.

"There are about eight or nine children of that age who trek about seven or eight kilometres to the nearest present basic school," David said.

"But, even allowing for that journey, most families can't afford the education. There's the uniforms and materials to pay for as well as a monthly fee."

Secondary education '“ with even higher charges '“ is also beyond nearly every family in Kunebeh.

It makes no difference the official language in the Gambia is English when no-one locally can read or write. Their local dialect is passed on in a spoken tradition.

But some villagers do manage to break out of the cycle of poverty.

Most can only do this by making their way to the coast where they find relatively well-paid work as taxi drivers, hotel receptionists or builders.

David and Janet have teamed up with a builder to ensure their funds are spent wisely on the spot.

The local man took charge of the project which saw sand and cement turned into 5,000 concrete blocks by the enthusiastic villagers to provide the foundations for their school.

David said: "It's all about helping people to help themselves.

"Everything will belong to the village.

"This is not a case of westerners coming in and telling the villagers what to do.

"Change comes from within. It is the people of Kunebeh who have to have the motivation and ideas. They decided they wanted a school. We are just helping them."