Newsletter

Woodbury Salterton – Dumbutu Newsletter

Autumn 2002

Registered Charity No 1088632

Sponsorship scheme

The sponsorship of school children in Dumbutu has proved a very popular scheme. As a community we are now sponsoring 50 children and are looking for further support.

A mere £12 pays for one child's primary education for a year including tuition fees, books, school uniform and school dinners!

As a Registered Charity, we have agreed strict accounting rules with the Headmaster in Dumbutu and all the money donated goes where it is needed. There are no administration or bureaucracy charges!

To keep costs down, and to utilise the skills within the village, women from the sewing group in Dumbutu are now making the school uniforms for sponsored children using sewing machines donated by the Link.

Students move to an Upper Basic (Junior Secondary) School at the age of 11,12 and 13 for a further 3 years to grade 9. Then a further 3 years at a senior secondary school where they sit GCE examinations and so on to a University.

When students move on to secondary school we intend to offer sponsors a choice between continuing sponsorship of the same student or switching to a younger child at Dumbutu School.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a child or providing school equipment, please contact Warren Wright or Alison Bennett.

A Vote of Thanks from Dumbutu

“On behalf of the parents of the fifty sponsored students, the staff and the rest of the students, the Parent Teacher Association Committee, the Dumbutu / Woodbury Salterton Link committee, the entire communities of the School and on my own behalf, please allow me to extend to you, the sponsors, the committee responsible for the scheme, the Woodbury Salterton / Dumbutu Link committee and to the rest of the Woodbury Salterton community my sincere gratitude for this very noble gesture from your end.

The communities of Dumbutu and their school cannot pay you and your committees anything rather than praying for you people for your good health, long life and prosperity throughout your lives. The burden you people have taken from the parents of the sponsored students and the school at large is far beyond expectation.

We wish this sponsorship scheme continued from strength to strength, the better for the entire Gambian Nation”

Alhagie L.S. Jammeh

Headmaster : Dumbutu Lower Basic School 30^th September 2002

World Cup

The Gambia is a long narrow country that is completely surrounded by Senegal. Due to this unusual location The Gambia has very close trade and cultural links with Senegal.

Football and wrestling are The Gambia’s main sports. People seem to be playing football everywhere you go – especially on the beach “Brazilian Style”.

When members of the committee visited the country in December 2001 the Gambians were already going World Cup Crazy – before most of us had even started to think about it.

It was wonderful to see Senegal do so well – what a shame that it wasn’t England v. Senegal in the Final!!!

Multi Purpose Centre

The electrification of the centre is almost completed; a bit delayed as we had to incorporate the ceiling of all the rooms which was not part of the original budget.

Tools and sewing machines sent out from Woodbury Salterton will be used in the workshops which form part of the building, and we have received a particular request for more woodworking and metal work tools.

Don Wilson

Copies of this Newsletter have been sent to Dumbutu where readers were saddened to hear of the loss of Don Wilson at the end of last year. Don was one of the party which visited The Gambia in 1993 and many of the children there will remember him entertaining them with British nursery rhymes – accompanied by actions!

Amongst his many talents, Don was a gifted artist and one of his watercolours of Dumbutu hangs in Woodbury Salterton Village Hall today. During the visit in 1993 Don also presented portraits to Kalipha Jobe and Jalang Colley.

Ploughman's Supper

The Ploughman's Supper held in the Village Hall on 11 May raised more money for the Link.

Tony Bennett, who visited Dumbutu last Christmas, with his wife Alison and daughters Gemma and Kirsty, showed some photos and spoke of how they had been welcomed like Bob Geldof and Princess Diana rolled into one.

One photo showed Alison operating one of the hand water pumps, which are the sole source of water for the village.

Another showed the multi purpose centre, which villagers built themselves with materials funded mainly by our Link. Hand sewing machines, and tools for the carpentry and metal workshops have been sent out from our village.

Alison is still collecting items to send out and needs more hand sewing machines, hand tools and any text or story books which could be used in the school.

Drumcrazy Barbeque

Our second Drumcrazy event was as successful as the first with a good turn out from a large number of enthusiastic drummers. For the second year running we were blessed with good weather but it would be pushing our luck to try it a third time. Any ideas for something different……….??

Schools Program

Woodbury Salterton Primary School has kindly agreed to send some Pens and Books to the school in Dumbutu.

The children at our school have shown great interest in the community link and are particularly interested in finding out about life in the Gambia.

Publicity

We would like to thank the Woodbury News, and Clyst Valley News for publishing articles about our fund raising activities.

We would also like to thank Simon Horn for his article in the Exmouth journal which had an outstanding response. As a result we have had the generous donation of about 35 sewing machines, typewriters, tools and numerous other items from a large area of East Devon

We also owe a great vote of thanks to Peter Guggenheim who has taken the time to service and overhaul all the sewing machines. A large consignment has been sent out to Dumbutu this month along with tools and stationary.

Text Box:

We are still trying to collect:

Exercise books; pencils; pens; rubbers; rulers; felt pens; markers; tipex; chalk; crayons.

Watering cans; buckets; spades; hand and garden forks; rakes; vegetable seeds, etc.

Small plates; spoons; small & large cooking pans.

Hand tools for wood and metalwork.

Manual typewriters.

Sewing Machines.

Contact Warren Wright 01395 233006 or

Tony & Alison Bennett 01395 233672.