The School Garden Project
Donation protected
Siiboo is a very small family run charity based in Egremont, Cumbria. Registered in England & Wales with the Charities Commission and registered in The Gambia as a Non Government Organisation. Siiboo aims to advance nursery education on the North Bank division of The Gambia through the provision of goods they could not other ways afford through lack of means.
In 2104 when the Dutch based Demaro Association withdrew from it's activities in The Gambia the nursery school in Bakindik suffered tremendously. The nursery was wholly dependant on the financial support they received from the Demaro Association as the children's parents could not afford school fees which would normally be charged, Bakindik is in the Lower Niumi district on the North Bank division and is one of the poorest areas in The Gambia.
Since our intervention in 2015 we have fitted the nursery with a solar power and now – for the first time in the history of the school – they are no longer wholly dependant on financial support from charities as they are now able to raise a small amount of money on a regular basis by charging a fee for charging mobile phones.
Siiboo is embarking on its most ambitious project to date. We are hoping to raise £2,000 (D118,000) to buy a small plot of land in Lower Niumi which can be farmed to produce food for the school so we can reintroduce a feeding program through our School Garden Project.
“The school feeding program plays a key role in contributing to quality education and improving attendance in schools,” said Gibril Bah, a Principal Education Officer in The Gambia.
The School Garden Project will have significant nutritional benefits for the children: the garden will produce a variety of vegetables including beans, pigeon peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and egg plants all of which we will use in the school lunches. For most of the children a school lunch is their only opportunity to get a balanced meal as their parents are unable to provide for them.
In addition to the nutritional benefits, the activities in the garden will complement lessons children learn on natural science, nutrition and hygiene in the classroom.
The school garden will also be a learning centre where the children will learn through doing and this approach to learning will be a new experience to them.
We hope to plant mango and cashew nut trees too. The fruit and nuts will be sold at market to further increase the schools ability to generate it's own financial resource.
Please give what you can, it really will be appreciated.
Thank you.
In 2104 when the Dutch based Demaro Association withdrew from it's activities in The Gambia the nursery school in Bakindik suffered tremendously. The nursery was wholly dependant on the financial support they received from the Demaro Association as the children's parents could not afford school fees which would normally be charged, Bakindik is in the Lower Niumi district on the North Bank division and is one of the poorest areas in The Gambia.
Since our intervention in 2015 we have fitted the nursery with a solar power and now – for the first time in the history of the school – they are no longer wholly dependant on financial support from charities as they are now able to raise a small amount of money on a regular basis by charging a fee for charging mobile phones.
Siiboo is embarking on its most ambitious project to date. We are hoping to raise £2,000 (D118,000) to buy a small plot of land in Lower Niumi which can be farmed to produce food for the school so we can reintroduce a feeding program through our School Garden Project.
“The school feeding program plays a key role in contributing to quality education and improving attendance in schools,” said Gibril Bah, a Principal Education Officer in The Gambia.
The School Garden Project will have significant nutritional benefits for the children: the garden will produce a variety of vegetables including beans, pigeon peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and egg plants all of which we will use in the school lunches. For most of the children a school lunch is their only opportunity to get a balanced meal as their parents are unable to provide for them.
In addition to the nutritional benefits, the activities in the garden will complement lessons children learn on natural science, nutrition and hygiene in the classroom.
The school garden will also be a learning centre where the children will learn through doing and this approach to learning will be a new experience to them.
We hope to plant mango and cashew nut trees too. The fruit and nuts will be sold at market to further increase the schools ability to generate it's own financial resource.
Please give what you can, it really will be appreciated.
Thank you.
Organizer
Colin Fox
Organizer
