21 January 2013

 

PAGEANT VIDEO!

Here's a glimpse of what PAGEANT has been up to! Take a look!


Thank you for all your support!

10 January 2013

 

Help us re-bore Bakalarr's well

Most rural and many urban Gambian schools have vegetable gardens. These serve as teaching aids, growing food for school meals, and sometimes selling produce to raise funds. Nearly all rely on irrigation from wells and boreholes. Bakalarr Basic Cycle School once successful set of vegetable gardens were irrigated from a well which is now failing. The photo below shows vigorous healthy crops in 2003.
The water from this well is not drinkable, and is used solely for irrigation. They have a very limited piped supply for cooking and drinking. The decreased flow means that the crops are suffering, as shown in the photo below.
The solution to the failing well is to have it re-bored. This should provide sufficient inflow of water for all their requirements in the foreseeable future. They are also proposing to install a water storage tank, so there is always a reserve of water. Vegetable gardens are very important to Gambian schools and a lot of effort is put in by both staff members and children. Many of the vegetables are used for school meals, while some are sold to provide funds for school resources. In addition to this, the gardens provide a valuable teaching resource for the agricultural science programme.

Please  help us with a donation

 The total cost is estimated at £2050. We are able to kick-start this appeal with £385 raised by Gavin Sandison by running the 2012 New Forest Half Marathon.  By making a donation to this appeal, you will help to bring the Bakalarr vegetable gardens back to full vigour, making a huge difference to the quality of life in the school. see our webpage for full details

08 January 2013

 

Pageant on the radio

This coming Thursday, 10 January, Pippa and Ian Howard will be on BBC Local Radio. They will be on Joe Talbot's excellent show, which you can hear every weekday from 12 noon to 4pm on BBC Surrey and BBC Sussex. On Thursdays he has a slot called "Charity begins with Joe", from just after 1pm. If the technology allows, Pippa and Ian will be joined by Yankuba, by phone from The Gambia.

If you are in Sussex, Surrey, South London or North East Hampshire, you should be able to hear the programme live:
 If you can't listen on air, then try online at the BBC Surrey website. Just click the 'LIVE' button on the right to listen.

You can also try the BBC iPlayer. Click on this link, and scan along the top to Thursday 10, and then down to Joe's programme at 12 noon. You can listen live, or for about a week afterwards. In that case fast forward an hour to get to "Charity begins with Joe".