New Teacher at Busumbala Nursery School

There is always something rather special about the beginning of a new school term. And School Manager Lamin Barrow has been overseeing everything and taking photos and videos and sending them straight to me — and there have been lots of phone calls.

The classrooms are opened up again. The desks are put back into place. The school grounds are cleared after several months of astonishing rainy-season growth. New children arrive, often accompanied by parents who are seeing the school properly for the first time.

And this September, we also had some particularly big news.

Busumbala Nursery School has a new teacher.

Welcome to Muhammed Lamin Drammeh

Newly qualified teacher Muhammed Lamin Drammeh at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia on his first day with the children. — Muhammed Lamin Drammeh, also known as Mo Lamin or Lamin Sankandi, on his first day as a teacher at Busumbala Nursery School.

Our newest member of staff is Muhammed Lamin Drammeh, although you may also hear him called Mo Lamin or Lamin Sankandi.

Muhammed Lamin has now fully qualified from Gambia College and has joined our teaching team for the new academic year.

There is also a lovely connection with our School Manager, Lamin Barrow. Muhammed Lamin comes from Sankandi, the same village as Lamin, so this is not simply a case of employing somebody whose name happened to arrive on a piece of paper.

Their families know one another through village life in Sankandi and will have spent time together over the years at community and family occasions, including celebrations such as Koriteh.

For a small community school like ours, that matters.

Lamin knows the person he has brought into the school. He knows where he comes from, knows his family background and, most importantly, has confidence in the young teacher now standing in front of our children.

And after years of planning, fundraising, building and slowly expanding the school, it is wonderful to be able to say that we now have three qualified teachers working across our three classrooms.

Straight Into the Classroom

There was no lengthy period of standing around looking nervous.

Muhammed Lamin was soon in the classroom, getting to know the children, talking with them and beginning to teach.

Our photographs and videos from his first day show him interacting naturally with the pupils and leading a spelling activity in class.

That is exactly what we wanted to see.

A new teacher is important on paper. A new teacher actually standing in a classroom, engaging children and helping them learn is something altogether more satisfying.

For Building Futures in The Gambia, this is what all the fundraising eventually turns into: more adults teaching, more children learning and more opportunities for young people in Busumbala.

New teacher Muhammed Lamin Drammeh spending time with children in the classroom at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Muhammed Lamin Drammeh spends time with the children at Busumbala Nursery School on his first day as our new teacher.

Can You Help Us Pay Our Teachers?

Of course, employing another teacher also means another salary to find every month.

Our teachers are at the heart of everything we do. Buildings, books, furniture and equipment are essential, but without good teachers there is no school.

We therefore urgently need to increase the number of people supporting BFiG with a small regular monthly donation.

Even a modest amount each month gives us something incredibly valuable: the ability to plan ahead and know that staff salaries can be paid reliably.

If you would like to become a monthly donor, our UK bank details are:

Account name: Building Futures in The Gambia
Bank: Lloyds Bank
Sort Code: 77-33-04
Account Number: 34015368

If you are a UK taxpayer, please also remember that Gift Aid can make your donation worth even more to the charity.

And go and take a look at Help Build Bright Futures in The Gambia | Building Futures in the Gambia for other ways in which you can support us.

Three Teachers – and Now Three Classrooms

The arrival of Muhammed Lamin means that another long-term goal has finally fallen into place.

All three of our classrooms can now be used.

For a long time, we had more classroom space than teaching staff. Now, with three teachers, we can begin making full use of the school we have worked so hard to build.

The third classroom is open and ready for children, and we are currently having a chalkboard made for it.

We are also looking for additional school furniture.

If anybody reading this knows of a charity, organisation or other source that may be able to help us with suitable classroom tables, chairs or other nursery-school furniture in The Gambia, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

As the school grows, so does the amount of equipment we need.

That is quite a nice problem to have.

The newly opened third classroom at Busumbala Nursery School, ready and waiting for pupils as the school expands for the new academic year.

Welcoming New Children and Families

The start of a new academic year is not only about returning pupils.

It is also registration time.

Teacher Mariama ‘Sibo’ Fatty has been meeting new parents and children as families arrive to register pupils for the school.

For some of those children, this will be the beginning of their very first experience of formal education.

It is easy to look at a registration photograph and simply see paperwork taking place at a desk. In reality, it represents something much bigger.

Another family has chosen the school.

Another child is about to enter a classroom.

Another educational journey is beginning.

Teacher Mariama Sibo Fatty meeting new parents and children during pupil registration at Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — Mariama ‘Sibo’ Fatty meets new parents and children during pupil registration at Busumbala Nursery School.

From Rainy-Season Jungle to School Grounds Again

Anyone familiar with The Gambia will know what the rainy season can do to a patch of open ground.

It grows.

Then it grows a bit more.

Then, while you are looking in the other direction, it appears to make a concerted attempt to reclaim the entire school.

We have video showing the grounds before they were cleared, with months of rainy-season grass and vegetation covering much of the site.

The school grounds before clearing, showing the heavy growth of grass and vegetation brought by The Gambia’s rainy season.

We then employed local workers to cut everything back and prepare the grounds for the children returning to school.

The difference is dramatic.

Our more recent photographs and videos show the site open again, with piles of cut vegetation waiting to be cleared by Lamin.

The work also gives us a much clearer view of something else.

The grounds of Busumbala Nursery School after workers cleared the heavy rainy season vegetation, preparing the site for the children’s return.

The Emmanuel Trees Have Been Growing Too

Our ‘Emmanuel Trees’, funded by our friends at Emmanuel School in Walsall, have clearly enjoyed the rainy season.

Several of the young trees around the site are noticeably larger than they were only a few months ago.

The rains may create plenty of clearing work, but they also give the trees the best possible opportunity to become properly established.

What started as small saplings around the school grounds is gradually beginning to look like something more permanent.

In time, we hope these trees will provide greenery, shade and a much more welcoming environment for the children.

For now, it is simply lovely to see them growing.

A current look around Busumbala Nursery School, showing the growth of the school’s young trees and piles of cleared rainy season vegetation awaiting removal.

A Suitcase Full of Music

Another arrival in The Gambia recently was slightly less human, but still very welcome.

A suitcase packed with musical instruments and other resources successfully made its way to The Gambia thanks to an extremely kind donor and his mum.

Everything inside is destined for use with the children at Busumbala Nursery School.

Music has always been an important part of learning with young children, and additional instruments will give our teachers more opportunities for songs, rhythm activities, movement and musical play.

It is another example of the many different ways people have found to support the school.

Sometimes it is a large grant.

Sometimes it is a monthly donation.

And sometimes it is a heavily packed suitcase full of useful things making its way across several thousand miles…all thanks to a very kind donor and his mum.

They all matter.

Suitcase containing musical instruments and educational resources delivered to Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia. — A suitcase packed with musical instruments and other resources after arriving safely in The Gambia for Busumbala Nursery School.

What Happens Next?

With the school open again, our attention will soon return to several major building and development projects.

On the list are:

removing the remaining section of the old toilet block;
completing the three new pupil toilets;
creating our new school sports pitch, funded by Emmanuel School; and
beginning our biggest upcoming project, the construction of a dedicated school library building, made possible by a generous grant from Hazel’s Footprints Trust.

There will be plenty happening.

But first, Lamin has one other rather important seasonal responsibility.

Farming.

As usual, Lamin has been juggling running the school with work on his crops during the rainy season. Once the main farming work is completed towards the end of October 2026, we expect to be able to move full steam ahead with the next phase of work at Busumbala Nursery School.

Thank You

When you look at everything happening at the school at the moment, it is worth remembering how many different people have helped to make it possible.

We have three teachers.

We have three classrooms.

We have new pupils joining us.

We have books, musical instruments and other resources arriving.

Our trees are growing.

Our toilets are nearing completion.

A sports pitch is planned.

And, before too long, we hope to begin building a proper library.

None of that happened by accident.

It has happened because individuals, schools, trusts, charities and regular supporters have decided that a small nursery school in Busumbala is worth investing in.

Thank you to every single person who has helped us reach this point.

And if you would like to help us take the next step, the most useful thing you can do right now is become a regular monthly donor.

Even a small monthly contribution helps us meet the ongoing cost that matters most of all:

keeping our teachers in their classrooms and our children learning.

Building Futures in The Gambia
Lloyds Bank
Sort Code: 77-33-04
Account Number: 34015368

There is a lot more still to do.

But with three teachers now working across three classrooms, the new academic year at Busumbala Nursery School feels like another very significant step forward.

Here’s a final peek at our new teacher getting to know the children.

Newly qualified teacher Muhammed Lamin Drammeh interacting with children at Busumbala Nursery School on his first day with BFiG.

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.

Every bit of support genuinely makes a difference.

👉 Help Build Bright Futures in The Gambia | Building Futures in the Gambia

Read our last update:

👉 Rainy Season Growth, New Trees and a Tractor Ride to School | Building Futures in the Gambia

Find out lots more about BFiG Busumbala Nursery School here:

👉 BFiG Busumbala Nursery School | Building Futures in the Gambia

And Discover The Gambia over at our brand new Gambia hub page at:

👉 Discover The Gambia | Culture, Food, Music, Places & Stories