Would like to say a big thank you for taking us to Kitty's. What a lovely day we had visiting this school, the children were lovely and so happy. The teachers clearly are very dedicated. I will as promised try to get all my fellow workmates on board and hopefully make a donation for the school. I will also get collecting the school uniforms so all the children will able to attend school in the same uniform. Thank you so much
Thank you Sandy, Fansu and Yahya for making us feel vey welcome in Brikama. The children were delightful and the food we had or dinner was he best I had all of my time in the Gambia. We hope the children are enjoying the footballs and not causing too much noise! For people that had so little, that gave us so much. They were warm and friendly, the dancing with the women of the village was hilarious. We hope to return soon and have spread the word as much as possible about the great work you are doing there. Please keep hold of the Gambia shirt I stupidly left in the van, I will pick it up next time!!!
Thank you to Sandy and Fansu for taking us to Kitty School the week before last. We were made to feel very welcome by all the students and staff who were brimming with energy and enthusiasm. It is great to see Goal for the Gambia working closely with the local community to furnish and develop the school. Thank you for looking after us so well and all the very best to Kitty School and all the other projects.
Many thanks to Sandy and Fansu for a wonderful day out at the nursery school in Brikama. It was a fantastic day and the highlight of our holiday. This was our first time in The Gambia and we were so glad that we were able to enjoy this wonderful experience. We packed as many books, pens etc that we could and the welcome we received was amazing - we felt like royalty. We visited each class and met the teachers and the children. The school is very basic and they have no supplies it seems other than a few pieces of chalk. The local ladies sang and danced for us afterwards and we did our best to learn the Jola dancing. We then had a gorgeous lunch with Fansu and his family at their home and spent the afternoon happily smothered in small children. I never imagined what pleasure a few balloons could bring. I urge anyone thinking about visiting a school to contact Sandy and arrange a day with her. She is doing marvellous work under difficult circumstances but just a little help from people like us goes a long way.
Wow, what can I say? We had such a memorable day with Sandy, Bless and Fansu in Basori. To anyone thinking of arranging a trip to one of the schools, please do - you will not be disappointed!
Throughout the whole day all of the locals made us feel so welcome. We were greeted by a group of women from the community playing music, singing and dancing and we loved attempting to join in without making fools of ourselves! We then got to visit each of the 3 classrooms and see what kind of work the children were doing. Afterwards all the kids came outside and joined us, asking us questions and holding our hands.
When we emailed Sandy to arrange a visit, she gave us the option of just visiting the school or also spending the afternoon at a local compound afterwards. I'm so glad we made a full day of it - we felt so honoured to be having lunch at Bless' family compound and we had the best food of our entire holiday there! We spent our afternoon playing games with the kids and chatting to the head teacher and the locals about The Gambian way of life. We got such an insight into ‘The Real Gambia’ that we wouldn’t have got if we stayed around the hotel area or doing tour excursions.
Its also worth mentioning that Sandy is very mindful of giving you your own unique experience. She told us that she doesn’t put groups of people together, so when you arrange a visit it’ll just be you, her and the locals! She also let us choose how long we stayed. It was by far the highlight of our trip and a day we will never forget…thank you Sandy, Bless and Fansu!
Throughout the whole day all of the locals made us feel so welcome. We were greeted by a group of women from the community playing music, singing and dancing and we loved attempting to join in without making fools of ourselves! We then got to visit each of the 3 classrooms and see what kind of work the children were doing. Afterwards all the kids came outside and joined us, asking us questions and holding our hands.
When we emailed Sandy to arrange a visit, she gave us the option of just visiting the school or also spending the afternoon at a local compound afterwards. I'm so glad we made a full day of it - we felt so honoured to be having lunch at Bless' family compound and we had the best food of our entire holiday there! We spent our afternoon playing games with the kids and chatting to the head teacher and the locals about The Gambian way of life. We got such an insight into ‘The Real Gambia’ that we wouldn’t have got if we stayed around the hotel area or doing tour excursions.
Its also worth mentioning that Sandy is very mindful of giving you your own unique experience. She told us that she doesn’t put groups of people together, so when you arrange a visit it’ll just be you, her and the locals! She also let us choose how long we stayed. It was by far the highlight of our trip and a day we will never forget…thank you Sandy, Bless and Fansu!
We visited St Francis' Basic School in Sanyang with Sandy last week. It was a last minute change of plan, as we had been due to visit Basori, but it was a wonderful experience and we couldn't have asked for a better day.
After meeting the staff and spending some time looking around the nursery classrooms, we were taken into the hall where the whole school put on an assembly for us, with singing, tribal dancing and even a play. We were very honoured that everyone had gone to so much trouble for us and we really enjoyed all of the children's efforts. It was also great to be able to hand over the medicine, stationery and gifts that we'd brought for ourselves as we could really see the impact that they would have on the school.
We then had a lovely afternoon at Janko's family's compound and we'd like to say thanks again for the amazing lunch and the lovely gift we received.
We really look forward to keeping in touch with how St Francis' and the scouts are getting on and would encourage anyone who is thinking about arranging a school visit to go for it, it hugely enriched our trip to The Gambia and we really hope to be back again soon. Sandy is doing a wonderful job!
After meeting the staff and spending some time looking around the nursery classrooms, we were taken into the hall where the whole school put on an assembly for us, with singing, tribal dancing and even a play. We were very honoured that everyone had gone to so much trouble for us and we really enjoyed all of the children's efforts. It was also great to be able to hand over the medicine, stationery and gifts that we'd brought for ourselves as we could really see the impact that they would have on the school.
We then had a lovely afternoon at Janko's family's compound and we'd like to say thanks again for the amazing lunch and the lovely gift we received.
We really look forward to keeping in touch with how St Francis' and the scouts are getting on and would encourage anyone who is thinking about arranging a school visit to go for it, it hugely enriched our trip to The Gambia and we really hope to be back again soon. Sandy is doing a wonderful job!
We were collected from our hotel by Sandy and Fansu on Monday 5th March. Sandy was excited to tell us that we were to be the first visitors to her new project at Kitty School. We arrived to a warm welcome from the whole school, all the children lining the streets and chanting our welcome, we really felt like royalty and it was totally overwhelming. Once at the school there was more singing and dancing before we were shown round each classroom most with no desks and a nearly empty storeroom. The head teacher then exitedly discussed his vision for the school. We were then taken to a friend's compound where we played with the children, drank green tea, had a wonderful lunch, and really got to experience real Gambian life. It truly was a most memorable day that has inspired us to continue to support Sandy in the wonderful work she is doing. Can't wait to return again next year.
We visited Basori Nursery on 18th Feb 2012 with our 6 year old son Finn.We were collected by Sandy and her fellow helpers Bless and Fansu.The welcome at the school by the ladies and children was fantastic we were all soon up dancing .We were then shown around the school and some songs were performed by the children to us.The headmaster then showed us what had been done so far and what still needs attention.
We had the most amazing time and are well and truly sold on helping all we can. A return trip is already in the pipeline.
Thankyou so much.
We had the most amazing time and are well and truly sold on helping all we can. A return trip is already in the pipeline.
Thankyou so much.
We visited Basori Nursery School with Sandy, Bless and Fansu in February. What an amazing day we had!!! We were welcomed by the village ladies and given a tour of the school. The children and staff were delightful. We were also given African names which was a lovely touch - thankyou. We then had lunch at Bless's compound - the best meal we had all holiday!! Thanks so much to Bless's sister in law!
This was a memorable day - the best day of our holiday by far. It really puts life in perspective. Fantastic memories and a desire to help these people who have so very little. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts xxxxxx
This was a memorable day - the best day of our holiday by far. It really puts life in perspective. Fantastic memories and a desire to help these people who have so very little. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts xxxxxx
We spent the day wit Sandy at Basori on Thursday 16th February.
I had also contacted Sandy on Trip Advisor after reading about the charity.
There were 4 of us, me, my husband, our son (16) and our daughter (9).
It was such an intimate day as there wasn't a large group of visitors and we were made to feel s welcome at the nursery school.
It was a fantastic experience for our kids to get a real feel of African life and thanks must go to Fansu for driving us and to Bless and his family for the wonderful lunch!
The work Sandy has done for this nursery and village is really inspiring and she should be congratulated for following her heart and it is very clear that she is thought of as a very special person by those she is helping.
We hope to visit again next year and very much look forward to it.
I had also contacted Sandy on Trip Advisor after reading about the charity.
There were 4 of us, me, my husband, our son (16) and our daughter (9).
It was such an intimate day as there wasn't a large group of visitors and we were made to feel s welcome at the nursery school.
It was a fantastic experience for our kids to get a real feel of African life and thanks must go to Fansu for driving us and to Bless and his family for the wonderful lunch!
The work Sandy has done for this nursery and village is really inspiring and she should be congratulated for following her heart and it is very clear that she is thought of as a very special person by those she is helping.
We hope to visit again next year and very much look forward to it.