Makumbaya to Busumbala – An Amazing Journey That Built Futures
From Makumbaya to Busumbala – A Journey of Partnership, Persistence and Purpose
When you meet the children at BFiG Busumbala Nursery School today — busy painting, learning, laughing and growing — it can be hard to remember that the seed of this project was planted over fifteen years ago in another rural community in The Gambia…in a village called Makumbaya.
This is the story of how Building Futures in The Gambia (BFiG) grew from one bold idea — building a library — into a charity running its own nursery school, shaping futures one classroom at a time.
📚 The Beginning: Makumbaya Lower Basic School (2011)
Our journey began in Makumbaya Lower Basic School, a sprawling rural primary school with around 640 pupils aged 7–14 and just eight teachers to meet their needs. Class sizes of 45 to 60 children were the norm, there was no electricity, and a single water pump and tap served the entire school community. Many children walked up to 5 km each day just to attend class — because, despite immense challenges, they wanted to be there and understood the value of education.
The geographical isolation of Makumbaya made it hard for the school to attract sustainable partnerships with organisations abroad. But in 2011, BFiG members identified an opportunity to support that very community — not by building more classrooms at first, but by nurturing a culture of learning.
📖 A Community Library Takes Shape
BFiG consulted with the head teacher, Lamin Sanyang, to decide how best to help Makumbaya. A partially constructed room on the school site was identified and transformed into a dedicated library, stocked with books and learning materials to ignite imaginations beyond the crowded classrooms.
The project became a true partnership between communities:
- Students and staff from Newman University Birmingham helped organise visits, raise support and secure funding.
- Kitwell Primary School in England participated in classroom-linked fundraising, bringing the global dimension of education into action.
- Quinton Church of England School donated £500 specifically to purchase books for the library.
The result was a space where children could explore stories, learn at their own pace, and experience the joy of reading — a simple yet transformative step in a school with limited resources.
☀️ Powering More Possibility
The project didn’t stop with books. In 2014, solar panels were installed to power the library, overcoming the school’s lack of electricity and bringing light and energy to this educational hub.
Students who once crowded into dim classrooms now had access to lighted spaces where learning could continue even as the sun set. It was a moment that perfectly captured what BFiG strives for: empowering communities with sustainable resources that really make a difference.
🏫 Bright Star Nursery School: A Next Step (2013)
After Makumbaya, BFiG’s next project took the charity to Bright Star Nursery School in Old Yundum Village — a vibrant, bustling nursery school that quickly became a clear focal point for support.
A School Full of Life — and Challenges
When BFiG first visited Bright Star in January 2013, they found:
- Around 120 pupils aged 3–5 years old.
- Two regular classrooms — plus a very small third space used as an overflow room.
- Class sizes of up to 60 children per room, with children sitting on, by and at desks simply due to lack of space.
- A half-built third classroom and stacks of breeze blocks — evidence that plans had once started but funds had dried up.
- No readily available water at the school, meaning children and staff walked some distance to a tap or borehole just to drink, use the toilet or water a garden.
As one BFiG volunteer put it at the time:
“Even our guides were shocked at its condition.”
At the centre of it all was Head Teacher Betty Gomez, a young and passionate leader eager to improve learning for her pupils and build sustainable links with partners overseas.
Finishing What Was Started
The clear need was the completion of the third classroom — a space the school had always intended to build but never had the funds to finish.
Thanks to another year of fundraising involving UK partners — including Newman University, Kitwell Primary School, St. Augustine’s Catholic School and Nonsuch Primary School — BFiG was able to complete the third classroom and the toilet block in January 2014. The children celebrated with drama and music, and even a representative from The Gambia’s Education Department joined in the festivities.
The project at Bright Star was about more than bricks and mortar. It strengthened BFiG’s understanding of how much early years education depends on safe, adequate space, and how transformative that space can be, especially when teachers and communities are highly motivated.
📝 Charity Registration and a Vision for Sustainable Change (2014)
Following Makumbaya and Bright Star, BFiG became a registered UK charity (No. 1159520), formalising a commitment to community-led development rooted in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child — ensuring education is seen not as aid, but as a right.
This shift from supporting schools to building schools set the stage for the next chapter in Busumbala.
🤝 Choosing Busumbala — and Dreaming Big
The focus turned to Busumbala, in an area where there was no nursery provision at all. BFiG signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local Village Development Committee and education officials to build a nursery school designed and run collaboratively with the community.
🎉 Opening the Doors: October 2023
After years of planning, construction and fundraising, BFiG Busumbala Nursery School opened its first classroom in October 2023 with 24 pupils and one teacher. Today:
- Two teachers support around 44 pupils.
- A safeguarding boundary wall has been completed.
- Toilets have been improved and relocated.
- Water has been installed, and fruit trees planted.
- 511 books from Book Aid International are ready to enrich a library.
🌱 From Books to Classrooms — A Living Legacy
The journey that began with a library at Makumbaya, through the expansion of Bright Star, has culminated in a vibrant nursery school in Busumbala. Each project reinforced an essential lesson:
When communities lead and partners care, children are given more than education — they are given opportunity.
From Makumbaya…
To Bright Star…
To Busumbala…
This is still only the beginning.
Learn more about our work at Busumbala Nursery School here:
👉 https://www.bfigcharity.org/
Read about the history of BFiG Busumbala Nursery School here:
👉 https://www.bfigcharity.org/busumbala
