Dear all,
The first 3 months of 2008 have seen an amazing amount of progress from both the UK and The Gambia side of the project and it is therefore time for us to give you all a quick update of what has been achieved so far!
PARENTS AND TODDLERS GROUP: A Parents and Toddlers group was set up on 24th January by Wendy (volunteer) and Lettie (Trustee). Its aim is to prepare younger children to enter Nursery 1 classroom and familiarise themselves with their future teacher Samba through playing with toys suitable for their age group, getting used to play alongside other children. The first meeting generated a huge amount of interest and, once the purpose of the group was explained, the children and the mums started to interact with each other using the various toys and seemed to settle in very well. Towards the end of the session Wonjo Juice and fruits were given out to a very happy group. Samba (WYCE teacher) was very pleased to see that the group had started so well and will ensure that the group meets every Mondays and Thursdays from 4.30 pm until 6pm. The group is still going from strength to strength and it has been noticed that when the mothers can't make it to the group, an older sibling of the child accompanies them instead which shows commitment and enthusiasm!
FIRST BIRTH OF 2008: On Thursday 31st January at about 12pm Yusupha (WYCE Lodge Supervisor) informed us that his wife was about to have a baby and asked our staff to come and collect her from his compound with her two midwives to be taken to our Clinic. Yusapha (Health Manager), Awa as well as Wendy and Lettie were all present to assist with the delivery. A few hours later Yusupha’s beautiful baby girl, Kaddy, was born! Fingers crossed she is the first of many babies that will be born in the clinic in the coming year!
BEE FARM: The past few months have been very busy at the bee farm with Phil Healey’s arrival and a newly appointed attendant. At the moment there are 23 hives fully occupied with bees (18 KTB and 5 Dadants) with 2 more Dadants empty and awaiting entry of swarms. All hives were examined during his stay; a few had wax moth but the majority were very strong with plenty of brood - a sign that there is potentially a good honey crop around the corner. Some old combs were removed to encourage the bees to build new ones. After the storms of the rainy season, some damage was made to the leaf covering. All the Rhun Palm roof struts have been replaced and half of the area was covered with corrugated sheet. The other half will be covered next year when funds allow. The local village carpenter and his team have been employed to do the main construction work with the rest being done by a new member of staff.
LODGE GARDENS: The grounds of WYCE Lodge have been experiencing a rapid transformation since Christmas 2007 thanks to Omar (our Chief Gardener) and his plentiful band of volunteers having been making headway with the vegetable plots. With much care, attention and a spot of donkey manure, the gardens are blossoming into beds of carrots, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, oranges and much more. The rate of growth is astonishing and the kitchen will soon be benefiting from lush, organic products to compliment the already bountiful supply of paw paws from the Lodge gardens.
VOLUNTEERS: We would like to thank the following volunteers who, since January, have dedicated their time to join us in The Gambia: Ben Southall, Luke Mills, Luke Chambers, Lisa Allen, Lucy Brookes, Jennifer Thornton, Sam Thomson and Kelly Smith from Newman University College, Ian Parker, our Trustees Bernard and Lettie Harris, Phil and Wendy Healey, Sallie Scott, Pat Chester, Sharon Richter, Nigel Sadler, Vicki Kavanagh, Jane Roberts, Jude and Richard Johnson, Sue Mitchel, Karen Shaw, Indra Kubicek, Chandra Wilby, Kay Simon, Lindsey Simon, and Judy O’Keefe.
WEBSITE: For those of you who haven’t yet checked our brand new Website, please log on to www.wonderyearsce.co.uk! We can now publish regular blogs and news updates to keep you informed of the project’s development and enable you to read our volunteers’ stories. As with everything to do with WYCE, this site is EVERYONE’S site so, if you have any stories, feedbacks, and/or pictures you would like us to publish, please email them to us and we will upload them onto it.
AWARENESS EVENING: A big ‘Thank You’ goes to all our supporters who came to our first Awareness Evening on Thursday 6th March. The evening was a great success and we were able to get invaluable feedback on what was presented. The next Awareness Evening will take place on Thursday 8th May from 19.00 to 21.00 in our Wednesbury Head Office. We would love you to come and bring any family member/friend/work colleague interested in finding out more about our Charity and the ways in which to support it. We look forward to seeing you there!
SCHOOL APPEAL: Our main aim for 2008 is to raise £20,000 to finish building the final part of the Early Years Centre. If we do not build extra classrooms before September, our 8 year olds will not be able to progress onto their next class so it is crucial for us to raise this money as soon as possible. We need your help! Please, take a few minutes to circulate an email around asking for donations towards our project. If you work in a big organisation, small donations will go a very long way! Thank you all in advance for your support….
BEN NEVIS: Our next challenge will take place from 18th until 20th July 2008. We are looking for 60 challengers to raise a minimum of £400 in sponsorship to come to Fort William and climb the UK’s highest peak! Will you rise up to the challenge? For more information, please contact us for details or visit our website. All application forms and deposit must be sent to our Head Office by 18th April and the £350 sponsorship money must be sent to us by 31st May.
DONATIONS: We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who was kind enough to donate to and organise fundraising events for the Charity. In total, we received £2,734 this month. As most of you will know by now, just to keep going, we need to raise between £3,000 and £3,500 every month to pay for our Gambian staff’s salaries and the project’s day to day running costs. This is why we would like to find a minimum of 300 people willing to donate £10 per month to WYCE by direct debit (or 600 people donating £5 per month). Will you be the one to help us reach this target?
Furthermore, did you know that we could claim gift aid on all donations made to WYCE? Could you please therefore ask all tax payers to download a Gift Aid form from our website and send it to us together with any future donation?
MONTHLY DRAW: This month’s winners are: 1st prize: Vicki Kavanagh - £21; 2nd prize: Julia Welbourne - £12; 3rd prize: Sue Mitchell - £9. This is with only 42 people playing. Just imagine; if we had 200 players, this would make a 1st prize of £100! So please, contact us for more details or download the registration information on our website and start playing!
SPECIAL THANKS: “On behalf of the government, people of the Gambia, Staff, community of Madina Salaam and the children whose general welfare is committed to our charge, I wish to extend sincere thanks and profound appreciation to the Board of Trustees and all the potential donors for their immense contribution in sending a 40ft container full of assortment of valuable items. The provision of a reconditioned referral ambulance for the community was welcomed with much enthusiasm, pride and dignity. The funfair celebrations and jubilations which characterised its arrival, attested to the fact it could not have come at a better time. Apart from the essential social services the ambulance will provide, other assortment of items such as clothing, sporting outfits and school materials, equally brought much relief and pleasure to many families, groups and individuals in the community. Finally, I have been asked to assure you that everything included in the container was useful and benefited the community immensely. Thank you for everything and may god in his infinite powers reward one of you abundantly. Amen. Yours Faithfully, Alieu Sowe (Secretary NGO Board and General Manager.”
Thank you to you all for your immense support. If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please email us at: wyce_axelle@hotmail.co.uk or give us a call on: 0044 121 556 0666.