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Alpha Camara Naata Essau Kabakoto Minte Kunda Brufut Nemesu Kumbija

19th November 2009 - Opening of the Blue Water nursery school and women’s skill centre.

In 33 degrees of heat we bumped along the dusty road to Kumbija. The smoothest road had been badly damaged in the recent rainy season so our cavalcade of police car, the regional commissioners 4x4, the chief of police in his vehicle, the deputy head of education in another and other local dignitaries bumped along back roads generating an impressive cloud of dust as it moved through Gambian countryside, that in this region was well tended. And so the villagers were alerted of our approach well before our arrival(although even without the dust most villagers seem able to produce a mobile phone from their robes these days rendering jungle drums, or in this case savannah drums something of the past).

We drove into an explosion of colour, song, dance and drumming; many faces jostled and grinned, countless hands were extended in friendship. The unmistakeable shape and colour of the Blue Water school was the backdrop, a long white building with corrugated iron roof and trimmed in blue - in a township made largely of mud and thatch it is an extraordinary sight. We were a party of 14 white people in all, absolutely a record in itself for Kumbija and all of our party had taken some trouble to dress colourfully as we knew the locals would do. Everyone was clearly in party mood.

Taking advantage of the diversion created by a large arrival of white people, I sneaked through the crowd with the sole and urgent objective of testing the blue water toilet block set to the side of the main school building. Having completed my mission (and being greatly impressed with quality and cleanliness that I found) I returned to the front of the school which was alive with excitement and anticipation. A large tented awning was set 30 yards in front of the school under which shaded seating was provided, between the awning and school the many people in attendance had formed three sides of an oblong with the awning completing the fourth and forming an open area in the middle. As I made my way around the back of the crowd I saw two large and decorative settees in pride of place at the centre of the awning , surrounded by rows of seats. On one settee sat the regional commissioner and another man, in the other sat Sharon with a conspicuously empty space next to her. Hilary and Steve Lawther, intrepid and apparently unflappable local organisers for the Gambian Schools Trust, had not informed me that we were to be so visibly the guests of honour but never one to shy away from the spotlight I took my seat as the drumming seemed to step up in volume.

Drumming and dancing are intertwined as a core cultural activity for these people. They tell stories, compete, entertain, welcome (and no doubt more) with dance - every person seems keen to take a part and so the oblong of soil now became centre stage to an astounding array of colour, song and movement. There was no doubt that these were happy people in celebratory mood, this was not just a school event, the whole community had turned out to welcome us. A megaphone appeared first used by a strident lady singer who turned out to be a ‘griot’ - someone who sings family histories. Some of the blue water school children appeared in their checked gingham uniforms and sang the Gambian national anthem to which we all stood and applauded, a group of ladies made some demonstration of traditional skills around spinning and pot making, and the drummers never stopped - sometimes quiet and subtle and at other raucous and driving even more dancing. And then the speeches.

Hilary had warned that these ‘programmes’ of celebration could take several hours with many speeches and whilst we had many speeches we also had the benefit of our school headmaster Mr Sowe as translator. On behalf of the sponsors I thanked them for their wonderful welcome and gave them some brief explanation of why and how we had raised the money for their school, with Mr Sowe’s help they understood and in particular enjoyed the point that we wanted to show their young people that with focus and determination achieving extraordinary things is possible. The final speech was from the Regional Governor who certainly played to the TV cameras that were in attendance. He reiterated the government focus on education of the young and the importance of empowering women in a country where most women seem to work hard and many men do not. He also led the presentation to the UK delegation of African suits of green and blue made by the ladies of Kumbija in the new blue water skill centre. It was at this point that it seemed appropriate to join the dancing, and photographs are available of the ensuing duet offered to the appreciative and very surprised audience by myself and Maurice (one of the more outgoing members of our group - some understatement here). Apparently we got full marks for joining in but not for technique (which was innovative, exciting and only vaguely African).

I guess we were 2/3 hours into these fascinating and unforgettable festivities when it came to the official opening of the school. A cord had been extended across the front entrance and the blue water friendship plaque carrying the names of all who had contributed financially to the project was mounted on the front of the school beside the door of the headmaster’s office. The Regional Governor led the crowd to the front of the school and invited myself, Sharon and the village chief to hold the cord as he wielded the scissors and invited me to unveil the plaque.

And so the blue water nursery school was officially open. We met the teachers, the children, the villagers and returned invigorated by their enthusiasm and what has been and will be achieved in Kumbija. An achievement both for Blue Water and the Gambian Schools Trust to be proud of.

Two evenings later, having completed the long journey back to the coast, we sat in the heat of the evening with a cold beer watching the Gambian TV news in the company of Hilary and Steve Lawther. We all raised our glasses and let out a cheer as we saw ourselves appearing on the national news. Our TV fame was fleeting but the school is already changing forever and for the better the lives of those who are using it to grow themselves and their community.

Gordon Roscoe.