Busumbala Nursery School Update: Resources & Playground

It has been another busy few days at Busumbala Nursery School, with plenty happening both inside the classrooms and around the school grounds.

Our new teacher, Muhammed Lamin Drammeh – Mo Lamin – is settling quickly into life at the school, our teachers and children are making good use of the new learning resources sent out from the UK, more rainy-season growth has disappeared from the grounds, the remains of the old toilet block are finally being removed and the first sand has arrived for our new playground.

Two young children in blue school uniforms learning with a starfish alphabet card at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Children enjoying an early learning activity in class at Busumbala Nursery School.

And, away from school, there has been football, penalties, celebrations… and a rather less welcome encounter between Lamin Barrow‘s watermelon crop and some very hungry monkeys.

Never a dull week!

Mo Lamin Settles Into His New Classroom

It has been great to see Mo Lamin getting properly established in our newly opened third classroom.

He is already teaching his new class and beginning to make the room his own. Some of the materials which travelled out to The Gambia in our recently delivered suitcase are now being put to good use, including the colourful laminated learning resources we made for the school.

Mo Lamin putting up laminated learning resources with two pupils in his classroom at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Mo Lamin gets some enthusiastic help from his pupils as they put up new learning resources in Classroom Three.

Even better, Mo Lamin has been getting the children involved.

One of our favourite videos from this week shows several of his pupils enthusiastically helping him put up a new classroom display. There is something rather lovely about seeing the children taking ownership of their new classroom instead of simply sitting back while the teacher does everything for them.

They were certainly very willing helpers!

Mo Lamin gets some willing little helpers as his pupils help him put up a new classroom display at Busumbala Nursery School.

Our other teachers, Mariama ‘Sibo’ Fatty and Mariama ‘Aja’ Jaiteh, have also been busy improving their classrooms, with new displays appearing on their walls too.

Little by little, all three rooms are becoming brighter, more colourful and more stimulating places for the children to learn.

New Learning Resources in Action

Open suitcase containing laminated alphabet resources, musical instruments and school equipment for Busumbala Nursery School. — Some of the new resources sent over for Busumbala Nursery School, including laminated alphabet cards, musical instruments and other classroom equipment.

It is also wonderful to see resources which were made thousands of miles away actually being used in the classrooms.

Among them are sets of laminated alphabet and number cards, designed to give the teachers simple, durable resources which can be used again and again.

Laminated alphabet picture cards displayed beneath a classroom chalkboard at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — One of the laminated alphabet sets made in the UK and sent out for use with the children at Busumbala Nursery School.

One of this week’s photographs shows the alphabet cards displayed beneath the chalkboard, while another shows one of the children taking a turn at the front of the class and using a pointer with the number cards.

Apparently, being the teacher is quite popular!

For us, these little moments are important. Resources do not have to be complicated or expensive to make a difference. Sometimes a set of colourful cards, a pointer and an enthusiastic child are all you need.

Nursery pupil pointing to laminated number cards from 0 to 20 during a classroom activity at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — A pupil takes a turn at being the teacher, using one of our laminated number sets to practise counting with the class.

Sibo and Aja Hard at Work

Meanwhile, Sibo and Aja have been working hard with their own classes as the new school term gets properly underway.

Teacher Mariama Aja Jaiteh with children taking part in classroom activities at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Mariama ‘Aja’ Jaiteh with some of her nursery children during a classroom learning session at Busumbala Nursery School.

We have received some lovely photographs of the children working together at their tables, along with a video of the class singing their Good Morning song.

These are the everyday moments which we particularly enjoy sharing.

Building classrooms, toilets and playgrounds is important, of course, but ultimately all of those things exist for one reason: to give these children a safe, happy and stimulating place in which to learn.

Mariama’s class starts the day with a cheerful Good Morning song at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia.

Sadly, Aja has had to leave the school for a couple of days following a bereavement in her family, which means she has needed to travel up country.

Our thoughts are very much with Aja and her family.

A New Chalkboard for Classroom Three

Our third classroom is now open for business and is also about to receive another important addition.

A new chalkboard is currently being made for Classroom Three and should be delivered to the school very soon.

The classroom only opened for the first time this term, so we are still gradually equipping it with everything it needs.

The room itself is there. The teacher is there. The children are there.

Now we just need to keep filling in the gaps.

Clearing Away the Rainy Season

Outside the classrooms, School Manager Lamin Barrow has arranged another major clearance of the school grounds.

Anyone who has followed our updates through the rainy season will know just how quickly vegetation grows in The Gambia once the rains arrive. Areas which were bare sand only a few months ago can disappear beneath thick grass and weeds remarkably quickly.

The front of the school has now been completely cleared again.

Lamin has had the front of Busumbala Nursery School completely cleared after the heavy rainy-season growth.

Lamin has also been burning away the remaining piles of dried vegetation, leaving the grounds looking much more open and manageable.

There is still work to do, but the school site is gradually emerging from beneath its rainy-season jungle!

Goodbye to the Old Toilet Block

Another little piece of Busumbala Nursery School history is also disappearing.

The final remnants of our old toilet block are now being demolished and removed.

Those old toilets served the school for several years while we worked towards something much better, but they had reached the end of their useful life.

With our new four-cubicle toilet block now in place, there is no reason for the old structure to remain.

Seeing the final rubble being cleared away really does feel like another small milestone.

Workers clearing the final rubble from the demolished old toilet block at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — The last remnants of our old toilet block being demolished and cleared from the school grounds.

The Playground Starts to Take Shape

And then came another very welcome delivery.

The first load of sand for our new playground has arrived.

We are expecting another three loads before work moves on to producing the blocks which will form the playground boundary.

First delivery of sand for the new playground at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia, funded by Emmanuel School Walsall. — The first of four loads of sand arrives for our new playground, generously funded by Emmanuel School Walsall.

This entire playground project has been made possible by the continued support of Emmanuel School in Walsall, whose pupils, staff and families have already helped us with several projects at Busumbala Nursery School.

Their support is now helping us create a dedicated play area for our children.

Once again, something which has existed on our plans is beginning to turn into something you can actually see on the ground.

What Happens Next?

There is still plenty to do.

After the playground and sports area work, we need to finish the tiled section at the front of the new toilet block and complete some additional work inside the toilet cubicles.

And then comes the really big one.

Our new school library.

Thanks to a wonderful grant from Hazel’s Footprints Trust, we will soon be able to begin the next major building project at Busumbala Nursery School.

With 511 books already donated by Book Aid International, the library is going to transform what we can offer the children.

There is still a great deal of work ahead, but that is one project we are particularly excited about.

Mo Lamin the Footballer!

Busumbala Nursery School teacher Muhammed Lamin Drammeh before playing for Sankandi in a football quarter final. — Busumbala Nursery School teacher Muhammed Lamin Drammeh – Mo Lamin – before playing for Sankandi in Sunday’s quarter-final.

It turns out our new teacher has another talent too.

When Mo Lamin is not teaching at Busumbala Nursery School, he also plays football for his village team – Sankandi – which also happens to be School Manager Lamin Barrow’s village.

This week his team reached the quarter-final of a local competition and eventually won 5–4 on penalties.

Anyone who has watched a penalty shoot-out knows exactly how much drama can be packed into a few minutes of football.

The celebrations afterwards were certainly not restrained!

Mo Lamin, wearing a plain red shirt near the centre, celebrating with Sankandi players and villagers after their quarter-final victory. — Mo Lamin celebrates with players and villagers after Sankandi’s quarter-final victory on penalties.

Lamin Barrow has yet another job; he’s Vice Chair of the Sankandi Sports Committee and so, naturally, he was part of the celebrations and sent a brilliant video of villagers celebrating the victory, with plenty of singing, dancing and excitement.

Perhaps there is something in the Gambian air at the moment. With The Gambia’s national team, the Scorpions, also giving supporters plenty to cheer about, Mo Lamin and his teammates seem determined to keep the football excitement going at village level too.

Sankandi villagers celebrate after their football team wins its quarter-final match, with singing, dancing and plenty of excitement following the victory.

Meanwhile… the Monkeys Have Found Lamin’s Watermelons

Unfortunately, not all of Lamin Barrow’s news this week has been quite so cheerful.

Lamin farms crops back in his home village of Sankandi, including watermelons.

Yesterday he received the news that his watermelon crop has been badly damaged by monkeys.

He is, it would be fair to say, not impressed.

After all the work involved in planting and looking after a crop, discovering that the local monkey population has apparently decided to organise an all-you-can-eat watermelon buffet is not ideal.

Lamin will need to travel back to Sankandi very soon to see the damage for himself.

Something tells us the monkeys may not be on his Christmas card list this year.

Can You Help Busumbala Nursery School?

Everything happening at Busumbala Nursery School is possible because people choose to support us.

Buildings and larger projects are very visible, but our most important ongoing expense is much simpler:

paying our teachers every month.

We urgently need more people willing to support the school with a small monthly donation. Regular donations give us the confidence to employ teachers and plan ahead rather than constantly worrying about how the next month’s salaries will be covered.

We are also currently looking for help with classroom furniture, particularly as we equip our third classroom, and we will soon need tables, shelving and other furniture for the new library.

If you know a school, organisation, business or individual who may be able to help, please get in touch.

Thank You

Two young children in blue school uniforms standing at a classroom table at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Children settling into class at Busumbala Nursery School at the start of the new school term.

As always, a huge thank you goes to everyone who continues to support Building Futures in The Gambia and Busumbala Nursery School.

Thank you to Emmanuel School Walsall for making the new playground possible, to Hazel’s Footprints Trust for funding our forthcoming library project, and to everyone who donates, shares our posts, sends resources or simply follows the school’s progress.

There is still plenty to do.

But when we look at the photographs and videos coming from Busumbala this week – three classrooms full of children, teachers busy teaching, colourful resources on the walls, new facilities appearing and the school grounds continuing to develop – it is worth remembering just how far this little school has come.

And we’re nowhere near finished yet.

#LetsBuildASchool

Would you like to support the ongoing development of BFiG Busumbala Nursery School?

You can help us continue improving educational opportunities for children in The Gambia by visiting our Donate page or by sharing our posts with others.

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👉 New Teacher and New Term at Busumbala Nursery School | Building Futures in the Gambia

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