Trees, Toilets and Tidy Classrooms: An Exciting Update

Trees, Toilets and Tidy Classrooms

School Manager Lamin Barrow has sent over a fresh batch of photos and videos from BFiG Busumbala Nursery School in The Gambia, and today’s update can be summed up with three simple words: trees, toilets and children.

Even in the intense heat of the Gambian dry season, life at the school is busy, positive and full of small moments that remind us why this project matters.

🌳 Trees Growing in the Heat

Temperatures across parts of The Gambia have recently been extremely high. In Sankandi, Lamin’s home village, temperatures even climbed to and exceeded 40°C last week. Despite that, the young trees in the school grounds are doing wonderfully well.

These trees were kindly funded by the pupils at Emmanuel School in Walsall, who raised money to help us begin establishing a garden at Busumbala. Their support has already made a visible difference.

We now have mango, banana, umbrella, orange and avocado trees growing on the site — the very beginnings of what we hope will become a beautiful green learning space for the children.

And there’s even a splash of colour.

Our bougainvillea plants, although still very small, have started to flower. Teacher Mariama (Sibo) Fatty recently told us she would love to see flowers around the school. Now, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, that wish has already begun to come true.

In the video Lamin sent, he walks around the grounds proudly showing the young trees and the tiny flowering bougainvillea. It may only be a small plant right now — but it represents something much bigger: growth, care and a school that continues to develop every week.

🌱 Hard Work in the School Garden

Behind the scenes, another important member of the school team has been working incredibly hard.

Our school nanny has been preparing the garden area and caring for the plants in the challenging heat. Anyone who has worked in West African soil during the dry season will know just how tough that work can be.

The latest photograph of the garden area really speaks for itself. The ground is being carefully prepared so the trees and plants have the best possible chance to thrive.

Over time, this space will become much more than decoration. It will help the children learn about growing food, caring for plants and understanding the environment — all part of the Gambian curriculum.

🚽 Progress on the New School Toilet

There is also excellent progress to report on our new school toilet block.

The plumbing pipework is currently being installed so that everything will function properly once the building is complete. Once this stage is finished, the next step will be plastering the walls.

And here is a lovely example of the kind of kindness that keeps this project moving forward:
the plastering work will be carried out at no cost to the school, thanks to the generosity of some long-standing friends of the project.

We’ll share more about that wonderful act of support when the work begins.

Lamin has also recorded a short video tour showing the construction progress so far. Seeing the building take shape is a powerful reminder of how many people — in The Gambia and in the UK — are quietly helping this school grow.

🧹 Children Taking Responsibility

One of the nicest moments in Lamin’s update comes at the end of the school morning.

The children can be seen waiting to go home — but before they leave, they help tidy the classroom. Sweeping the floor and organising the room is part of daily life in Gambian schools, and it’s wonderful to see the children already learning to take responsibility for their environment.

It’s a small moment, but it shows something important:
this is their school, and they are learning to care for it.

🌙 Ramadan at Busumbala

All of this work is taking place during Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Life — and construction work — continues as normal at the school, but fasting can be particularly challenging when temperatures climb as high as they have recently. In Lamin’s videos you can hear that he sounds a little more tired than usual.

Anyone who has experienced the West African heat will understand just how demanding fasting can be when the temperature is approaching and even exceeding 40°C.

Yet despite this, Lamin and the team continue to move the project forward every day.

📚 Looking Ahead

The school is now in its third academic year, and pupil numbers have grown to around 44 children. This growth is wonderful — but it also brings a new challenge.

For the next school year, we will need to appoint a third teacher.

At the moment, our incredibly generous monthly donors are covering the running costs of the school, including our two current teachers. However, we do not yet have enough funding to employ a third member of staff.

If you, your business, or a school you work with would like to help support this next step, please do get in touch.

Every small contribution helps ensure that the children of Busumbala continue to receive the education they deserve.